Case Study, the Editing and Formatting of the DAO of SEO

 

November 6, 2007

 

Gisele Veilleux, of ProfessionalDocs.com, located in Central Florida, announced today the completion of editing and formatting Ken Sproul’s latest eBook, The Dao of SEO.  For more information about eBook writing and publishing, go to www.eBook-writing-help.com

 

 

###

END

Contract Technical Writing. Editing, Freelance Technical Writing providing ‘plain English’ Documentation Services Online.   eBooks, Training Manuals, Product Information Manuals, and more.

ProfessionalDocs.com                                Gisele Veilleux, Tech Writer

Table of Contents

(Before)

Table of Contents

(After)

The Table of Contents was system-generated  versus hard-typed.  All Heading were tagged so that we could have control on its size.  Once we went live with the book, we decided to use only 2 Heading levels.

 

Pagination was restarted at the number 1 at the beginning of each section, and disclaimers were added on each footer.

Foreword

(Before)

Foreword

(After)

I created a logo for the header to use throughout the document which gave it an elegant look.  A lot of white space was purposely used to make the pages easier to read.  Ken provided me with his own photos, which were perfect for the book.  The style was easy-to-read and the photos gave the pages beauty. 

 

Remember, this book was a technical book, describing the internet’s search engine optimization, yet it combined Chinese philosophy.  This gave us the freedom to take  what is usually a very dry subject into an exciting and delightful how to manual.

Summary

(Before)

Summary

(After)

By now, you should be able to notice the consistency and continuity of the book itself; each page complimenting each other.  In Ken’s original book, he used a watermark that I opposed.  The watermark itself was lovely, but I felt that since we were going to convert this into an eBook, the watermark might annoy his readers if they decide to print his book in strict black and white.    Redesigning a logo for him, from scratch, and using it in the header of each page cave us the perfect solution.

Epilogue

(Before)

Epilogue

(After)

Placing the famous quotes that are used throughout the book in strategic places made a big difference.  We placed each quote on the main Chapter Pages and surrounded them with plenty of blank lines to make them look elegant.  Ken’s original book surrounded the quotes with boxes, which made the page unattractive.

Summary:

 

Ken’s book was phenomenal when I read the first draft.  By making the Table of Contents self-generating, we were able to see our mistakes.  We ordered sections, broke apart sections, and added new ones until the Table of Contents flowed like moving water!

 

What I did, to be honest, is take Ken’s ideas, writings, photos, and personal preferences with regard to style, and turn them all into reality.  This project alone should prove to you that you can be a wonderful writer, and still not have the skills or experience to convert your book into an attractive, easy-to-read, and professional masterpiece.

Converting what you know into something that others can understand.