This page is now outdated. Please check the updated information at http://pothi.com/pothi/publishingatpothi
Are you a writer not content with the reach blogs and e-books can provide you in the Indian market? Do you want a book to reach the hands of those who already appreciate your writing and to a whole new audience beyond them? Do you write in an Indian language or in English? Do you want complete control over your content and earnings, and want a hassle-free process for publishing? Self-publishing is the way to go for you and we provide you the right platform! No upfront costs for you, you earn as your books sell. To learn more about this concept, please download the following presentation in
Given below is some useful information for the writers:
- Self Publishing at Pothi.com
- How should the book be submitted?
- Instructions for submitting the interior
- Instructions for submitting the cover
For further information or any queries/clarifications please contact us at writer@pothi.com.
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Self Publishing at Pothi.com works in the following manner:
- Author uploads the soft copy of the book to our site and provides some other information. This information includes how the author wants the book to be published (Hardcover vs Softcover etc.) and the margin author wants from the sale of each copy of the book.
- The book goes through a technical review (Please note that it is not a content review. We only check to make sure that the file is going to print correctly as a book)
- After the book passes the technical review, a pdf is created and sent to the author to review and approve. PDF shows how the book will look when printed.
- After the author approves the PDF form of the book, it gets published on our store.
- The price of the book is determined as follows:
- Price = Production Cost + Author's Margin + Our Margin
- Production Cost depends on the physical properties of the book (number of pages, size, binding type etc.)
- Author's margin is specified by the author while creating the book on our site
- Our margin is a percentage of author's margin (currently equal to the author's margin) or a minimum.The minimum margin is 30% of the production cost with an upper limit of 30 Rs. What this means is that if the production cost is less than 100 Rs, the minimum margin is 30% of the production cost. For the production cost of 100 Rs. and above, the minimum margins is 30 Rs. If the cost of production is 60 Rs. for example, our minimum margin would be 18 Rs. If the cost of production is 200 Rs. our minimum margin would be 30 Rs.
- Author may decide not to take any margins, in which case we will take only our minimum margin.
- This price does not include shipping and packaging costs.
- When somebody orders the book, the author's account is credited. Payment to the author will be made on a monthly basis if there is at least 200 Rs. in his/her account. Else, they will be made in the quarterly basis. We pay by direct bank transfer or mailing the cheque/DD to the author.
How should the book be submitted?
Book content will be submitted in two parts:
- Interior of the book (interior)
- Cover of the book (cover)
There are currently three types of binding available for the books: Stapled, Softcover and hardcover. They are available in particular page ranges. Please refer to the table below.
| Binding Type | Page Range |
| Saddle Stitched/Stapled | 10-64 pages |
| Soft Cover (Perfect Binding) | 50-500 pages |
Instructions for the interior:
- You can submit your books in the following file formats
- Microsoft Word
- Openoffice.org/Staroffice
If you are using a program other than Microsoft Office, Openoffice.org or Staroffice to typeset your book, please convert it to pdf before submitting.
- We are currently accepting books in the following sizes
- 5 inch x 7 inch
- 5 inch x 8 inch
- A5 (148mm x210mm)
- 5.5 inch x 8.5 inch
- 6 inch x 9 inch
- 7 inch x 9 inch
- A4 (210mm x 297mm)
Following table has the instructions for setting the correct page size for Microsoft Word and Openoffice and also has sample files with the right page size:
Program/File Format Size of Book Instructions Sample File MS Word 5 in x 7 in - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose 5"x7". If the size is not available, choose "Custom Size" and set the width to 5" and height to 7".
MS Word 5" x 7" Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer 5 in x 7 in - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- If size of 5" x 7" is not available, type in the textbox containing the width and height as '5 in' and '7 in' respectively (without quotes)
Openoffice.org 5" x 7" Sample MS Word 5 in x 8 in - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose 5"x8". If the size is not available, choose "Custom Size" and set the width to 5" and height to 8".
MS Word 5" x 8" Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer 5 in x 8 in - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- If size of 5" x 8" is not available, type in the textbox containing the width and height as '5 in' and '8 in' respectively (without quotes)
Openoffice.org 5" x 8" Sample MS Word A5 - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose A5
MS Word A5 Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer A5 - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- From the format drop down, choose A5
Openoffice.org A5 Sample MS Word 5.5" x 8.5" - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose 5.5"x8.5". If the size is not available, choose "Custom Size" and set the width to 5.5" and height to 8.5".
MS Word 5.5"x8.5" Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer 5.5"x8.5" - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- From the format drop down, choose 5.5"x8.5". If the size is not available, type in the textbox containing the width and height as '5.5 in' and '8.5 in' respectively (without quotes)
Openoffice.org 5.5"x8.5" Sample MS Word 6 in x 9 in - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose 6"x9". If the size is not available, choose "Custom Size" and set the width to 6" and height to 9".
MS Word 6" x 9" Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer 6 in x 9 in - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- If size of 6" x 9" is not available, type in the textbox containing the width and height as '6 in' and '9 in' respectively (without quotes)
Openoffice.org 6" x 9" Sample MS Word 7" x 9" - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose 7"x9". If the size is not available, choose "Custom Size" and set the width to 7" and height to 9".
MS Word 7"x9" Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer 7"x9" - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- From the format drop down, choose 7"x9". If the size is not available, type in the textbox containing the width and height as '7 in' and '9 in' respectively (without quotes)
Openoffice.org 7"x9" Sample MS Word A4 - Go to File->Page Setup
- Click on the tab named "Paper"
- From the "Paper Size" drop down, choose A4
MS Word A4 Sample Openoffice.org/Staroffice Writer A4 - Go to Format->Page
- Click on the Tab named "Page"
- From the format drop down, choose A4
Openoffice.org A4 Sample - We currently support only black and white interior. If you have any images or anything else which are coloured, it is advisable to convert them to grayscale or black & white and confirm that they look good before submitting.
- It is better to submit your book in the PDF format. Especially if your book includes lot of images in the interior, its better that you convert to pdf yourself and confirm that the layout is good. You may use Adobe PDF Writer for this purpose. Several free tools are also available which you can use, for example primopdf.
- If you are submitting your files in a non-pdf format, please restrict the fonts used to the following standard fonts. Any other fonts used may not appear correctly in the printed file and may actually spoil the appearance. If you are submitting pdf files, please embed all non-standard fonts used in the file.
List of standard fonts
- Arial
- Arial Unicode
- Mangal
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Calibri
- Century Schoolbook
- Palatino Linotype
- Baskerville Old Face
- List will be updated...
- Cover has to be submitted as a single file in one of the following formats:
- jpg/jpeg, tiff, png, bmp, MS Word, PDF
- All the images should be flattened.
- The images used should be of at least 300 DPI/PPI.
- You can use photoshop, coreldraw etc. to create the images. Or you can simply use your existing images and photographs on MS word. If you want to avoid proprietary tools for image editing, you can use open source alternatives like GIMP and Inkspace.
- The size of the image or Page size of the MS Word/PDF document should calculated as below
Size of Book Binding Type Dimensions 5" x 7" Stapled Width (in mm) = 127x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 178 (7 inches)Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides.
It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 10 mm of the
height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it
should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.5" x 7" Softcover Width (in mm) = 127 x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 178Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.
5" x 7" Hardcover (Currently not supported) Width (in mm) = 127 x 2 (front and back) + (5+0.05xNumber of pages in your file) (Spine) + 60
Height (in mm) = 178 + 60Do not keep any graphics or text within 50 mm on all four sides. If
there is any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming
or folding over the binding does not make the cover look bad.5" x 8" Stapled Width (in mm) = 127x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 203 (8 inches)Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides.
It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 10 mm of the
height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it
should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.5" x 8" Softcover Width (in mm) = 127 x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 203Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.
A5 Stapled Width (in mm) = 148x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 210Do not keep any graphics or text within 20 mm on all sides. If there is some graphic, it should be such that trimming does not make it look bad.
A5 Softcover Width (in mm) = 148x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 210Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad..
A5 Hardcover (Currently not supported) Width (in mm) = 148x2 (front and back) + (5+0.05xNumber of pages in your file) (Spine) + 60
Height (in mm) = 210 + 60Do not keep any graphics or text within 50 mm on all four sides. If there is any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming or folding over the binding does not make the cover look bad.
5.5"x8.5" Stapled Width (in mm) = 140x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 216Do not keep any graphics or text within 20 mm on all sides. If there is some graphic, it should be such that trimming does not make it look bad.
5.5"x8.5" Softcover Width (in mm) = 140x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 216Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.
6" x 9" Stapled Width (in mm) = 152x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 229Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides.
It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 10 mm of the
height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it
should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.6" x 9" Softcover Width (in mm) = 152 x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 229Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.
6" x 9" Hardcover (Currently not supported) Width (in mm) = 152 x 2 (front and back) + (5+0.05xNumber of pages in your file) (Spine) + 60
Height (in mm) = 229 + 60Do not keep any graphics or text within 50 mm on all four sides. If
there is any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming
or folding over the binding does not make the cover look bad.7"x9" Stapled Width (in mm) = 178x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 297Do not keep any graphics or text within 20 mm on all sides. If there is some graphic, it should be such that trimming does not make it look bad.
7"x9" Softcover Width (in mm) = 178x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 297Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.
A4 Stapled Width (in mm) = 210x2 (front and back) + 10 (spine and bleed)
Height (in mm) = 297Do not keep any graphics or text within 20 mm on all sides. If there is some graphic, it should be such that trimming does not make it look bad.
A4 Softcover Width (in mm) = 210x2 (front and back) + 0.05xNumber of pages in your file (Spine) + 10 (bleed)
Height (in mm) = 297Do not keep any graphics or text within 30 mm of Width on both sides. It is advisable not to keep graphics and text within 20 mm of the height on both sides too. If you keep any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming does not make the cover look bad.
A4 Hardcover (Currently not supported) Width (in mm) = 210x2 (front and back) + (5+0.05xNumber of pages in your file) (Spine) + 60
Height (in mm) = 297 + 60Do not keep any graphics or text within 50 mm on all four sides. If there is any graphics in that region, it should be such that trimming or folding over the binding does not make the cover look bad.
- Cover can be coloured or black & white.