Publish and Distribute
Getting Publication-Ready Checklist
☐ Has your work been peer-reviewed by at least two peers (at least one external)?
☐ Does your work meet accessibility standards?
☐ Are all sources properly cited and attributed to copyright holders?
☐ Have you checked your work for proper spelling and grammar?
☐ Do you have a book cover?
☐ Have you filled out all of the information in the Book Info section of Pressbooks?
☐ Have you configured book export options (see below)?
Export Option Instructions
Students like flexibility when it comes to their textbooks.
Follow these instructions to make your work available in multiple formats so students have the ability to choose the format that works for them (.pdf, .epub). This also includes editable files so that others can use your work to create their own adaptations (.xml).
- Go to the Export page listed in the left menu in the Pressbooks dashboard.
- At minimum we recommend selecting:
- PDF (for print)
- PDF (for digital distribution)
- EPUB 2.01
- Pressbooks XML.
- Once selected, click on Export Your Book and these options will be available to users from your book’s homepage once published.
Ready to Publish?
When you are ready to publish your work, please notify openbooks@macewan.ca and we will ensure that it is made public and available in our catalogue of works. We will notify you as soon as this is complete.
We will also:
- Assign a digital object identifier (DOI) and International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
- Archive a PDF version of your book in MacEwan’s repository, RO@M. (If you do not want it archived in RO@M at this time, just let us know.)
After You Publish
Making Post-Publication Edits
Following publication, we strongly recommend maintaining a chapter entitled Versioning History in the back matter at the very end of your work similar to the one used in this guide to track any changes and updates to your work after it is made public.
Also be sure to update the export options (see instructions above) each time you make a post-publication change.
Share Your Work
You can distribute your textbook by providing students, your colleagues, and anyone else with a link to the book.
You can also consider sharing your work with the larger open community. One way to do this is by adding your textbook to an established open education repository or open textbook collection:
Note: Some of these options require undergoing a formal review before being accepted.
