Scribe's author guides and FAQ
Scribe keeps a handful of short pages for its own clients: how to prepare for writing interviews, how to format a manuscript, how to brief a cover designer, and what to do once the book is out. They are public, practical, and useful to any author. This page groups them with two decision pages, Scribe's FAQ and its ghostwriting comparison.
- What it is
- Six short pages on scribemedia.com.
- Format
- Read. Each is a single page.
- What it asks
- Nothing.
- Caveat
- Four were written for Scribe clients, so some lines mention a Scribe writer, Publishing Manager or add-on.
Interviewing guide
Author guides: interviewing is for authors whose book is drafted from recorded conversations. Its five points: you only have to talk about what you already know; say more rather than less, because cutting is easier than adding; tell stories and give examples; explain things as if to an eight-year-old who keeps asking "why"; and trust the interviewer's direction.
Use it if you plan to talk your draft out, whether with a ghostwriter, a friend asking questions, or just a recorder. It pairs well with chapter 16 of The Scribe Method, How to write your first draft (the Scribe method). The "eight-year-old" advice is the most useful line: experts skip steps that feel obvious to them, and those are often the steps readers need.
Formatting tips for authors
Formatting tips for authors is a checklist for the file you hand a book designer. Get the manuscript copyedited and proofread first. Tag headings with Word's styles, and keep to one or two levels. Use italics, not underlining, for emphasis. Use the real list and footnote tools, not typed numbers. Do not paste images into the document; put a placeholder tag on its own line and send the highest-resolution files separately. Do not write "the photo below," because layout may move it. And keep the book description to about 200 words and the author bio to about 100, so they fit the back cover.
Use it the week before you send your manuscript to anyone for layout, with any publisher. It takes one read and saves real back-and-forth with a designer.
Getting started on your book cover
Getting started on your book cover is a three-step brief: find five to seven covers you love and note why, find three to five you dislike and note why, then send it all to your designer with a synopsis or outline.
Use it before your first conversation with any cover designer. Designers do better work from "I like the restraint of this one and hate the clutter of that one" than from "make it pop." Read it together with chapter 28 of The Scribe Method, How to get a great book cover.
Post-publishing author guide
The post-publishing author guide answers the admin questions that follow a self-published launch: how to order author copies through KDP or IngramSpark, how to let someone else order at a discount, how to change price or category, how to update your author page, how to read sales and royalty reports, whether bookstores will stock the book, and whether traditional publishers might want it later.
Use it if you self-published through KDP or IngramSpark and need step-by-step help with the accounts. Some of its links point to archived copies of those platforms' help pages, so check the current versions too.
Ghostwriting vs. writing it yourself
Ghostwriting vs. writing it yourself lays out the case for each, a middle ground, and a side-by-side comparison. It is fair to the do-it-yourself route: it names lower cost, full control and the satisfaction of writing every sentence as real advantages, and it is direct about the hard parts (time, structure, finishing).
Use it when you are choosing how to get the book written. Keep in mind that Scribe sells ghostwriting and coaching, and the page ends by describing those services.
Scribe FAQ
The Scribe FAQ answers 118 questions in groups: process, pricing, timeline, publishing, editing, marketing, general, audiobooks, ghostwriting and Guided Author. It is about Scribe's services, not a general guide.
Use it if you are considering hiring Scribe, or if you want to understand how a professional book process handles questions like voice, authorship and ownership, so you know what to ask any firm or freelancer you talk to.
Who these are for
The four client guides suit anyone at the matching stage, published with Scribe or not. The two decision pages suit people weighing whether to hire help. None of them is a course; each answers one practical question well.
Their honest limits
- They are short. They tell you what to do, not why, and assume you know the basics.
- The client guides refer to Scribe roles and services in places. Ignore those lines if you are publishing elsewhere.
- The FAQ and ghostwriting pages are written by a company that sells the services they describe.
Before and after
These pages slot into the write your first draft and publish your manuscript paths at the point they are needed.