Publishing Process
How your book is made!
Three Important Things
- Making a book with the ILF will not cost you any money. The ILF covers all the costs.
- You will own the copyright and IP (intellectual property) to your book. The ILF will never try to take any of your rights.
- The ILF will not use AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the publishing process.
How Is A Book Made?
Publishing a book is a long process with a lot of steps. It may take a lot of your time to work with us – so please consider if this time is something you have before making an application.
Application
The first step is filling out the application. We check applications 3 times a year, so check out our <publishing application> page to see when our next round closes. For the best success in your application, make sure to put as much information as you can – looking at our <selection criteria> may help you make sure you’re telling us everything we need to know.
Workshop
If you only have the words, but no pictures, or you don’t have either, then we will organise for someone to come to your Community to run workshops to help you get your vision onto the page. This person may be either a local artist of your choice, an ILF Ambassador, or someone from our team. That choice is up to you.
These workshops usually last a week, and are to help give you the tools to write and illustrate your story – not for us to do it for you. This means you will need someone who is able to work on any language used, if you would like language to be included in the book.
The workshops will be entirely led by what you and your Community wants. The ILF will not do any of the writing, and you will be able to decide what is and is not in the book.
At the end of the workshop, the ILF will take all of the art and text back to our office in Sydney. This is so that the art can go to a professional scanner and be photographed to be used in the book. But don’t worry, we take very good care of the art and will send it back to you once the book is published.
Permission Forms
As part of making a book with us, you and everyone who is working on the project will need to sign a form saying that they give permission to the ILF to use their work in a book.
Usually these forms are signed during the workshops to make sure no one is missed.
Book Design
Once the story and the pictures are finished they will be sent to a designer who will turn them into a book.
During this process you will be consulted every step of the way, and get to make any changes or suggestions you would like.
Your book will not be published until you are completely happy with it. This could take up to a year, depending on things like permissions, checking language with Elders or linguists or other Community commitments that may take priority.
Printing
Once the design is finished, then it’s time for it to become a book. We work with printers in China to make books of the highest quality.
It takes about three months for books to be printed and shipped back to Australia.
Audio
You also have the option to record someone in your Community reading your book aloud. We then add a QR code to the back cover so that anyone who has the book can scan and listen along.
Launch
Once your book is printed, it’s time to celebrate. We gift your Community with however many copies of your book that you would like, and then contribute some funds to have a book launch in your Community.
Translation process
If you are interested in translating an existing book, then the process is a bit simpler.
We will give you a document that has a column with the English words and a column for you to fill in with the language translation. The language should be checked by an Elder in Community or a linguist.
Once the translation is finished and you have sent it back to us, a designer will create a version of the book using your translation.
The books are then printed in China and shipped to you. Note that while this process has fewer steps, it can still take up to two years.
What is the difference between a commercial and
non-commercial book?
Commercial books are books that you have told us you would like to sell to the public, in bookstores across Australia. A percentage of these sales are then given back to you or the organisation of your choice – places like schools or language centres or other local institutions. The ILF is a not-for-profit organisation, meaning that any profits we do make from any books supports our work and our programs.
Non-commercial books are books you have opted to keep for Community only. This can include your book being a part of our <Book Buzz> or <Book Supply> programs. No money is made off of these books.
Apply Now
Whether your book is commercial or non-commercial, your Community will be gifted as many copies as you would like, to use however you would like.