









































Abstract
Transforming education may mean creating new instructional materials that are culturally relevant to 

local schools. Producing new high-quality materials may seem out of reach to educators who lack experience 
in illustration and publishing or have little access to commercial publishers. We share a model used to develop 
a series of books called Conservation Tales in collaboration with university faculty, students, and scientists. 
The model presents a way for local educators to create books to make education more relevant and accessible 
for children. The model leverages skills of artists, writers, and content experts to provide a rich learning 
experience for readers and an affordable option for self-publishing. Using this model, a science educator 
developed books for grades 3-5 with illustrations and photographs. University students developed images, 
created page layouts and co-authored the stories to suit the target audience. Scientists collaborated in the 
development and review of content for accuracy and education students created learning activities. This article 
describes the collaborative model with examples and shares the processes for self-publishing of print and 
digital books via online on-demand print services. We discuss sites that allow authors to create books with 
almost no overhead budget and share information about the quality of graphics, software for creating files, and 
distribution of books.

Keywords: Self-publishing, Culturally relevant books, Collaborative writing

McConnell, T. J., & Giorgio-Booher, B..  
Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2  
DOI  10.14434/gjte.v2i1.31233

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© McConnell, T. J. & Giorgio-Booher, B. 2020. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative 
Commons Attribution NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, 
provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

Collaborative Teams for Self Publishing -  
A Model for Creating Locally Relevant Educational Books

Tom J. McConnell1 and Barbara Giorgio-Booher2

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
“There is no technological reason why all the 
educational course books, and indeed most of 
the supplementary ones, at both primary and 
secondary level, should not be written, edited, 
designed, printed, and published in Africa rath-
er than in London, Malta, Paris or Hong Kong.”  
(Nottingham, 1969)

At the first World Conference on Transformative 
Education (WCTE) in 2018, discussion touched on ways 
to help nations in Africa and other parts of the world to 
“decolonialize” their education systems. Literature on 
the topic has described the role of education in the co-
lonialization of Africa as one of “killing of other knowl-
edge systems” (Hall & Tandon, 2017, p. 6), and the role 
it can play in rebuilding and reclaiming an indigenous 
culture to support the decolonization of social and gov-
ernment institutions (Akena, 2012; Mazrui, 2002;

Mbure, 1997). 
The literature makes it clear that by controlling 

educational content, colonial powers molded percep-
tions among African children about their role in society, 
the hierarchy of social structure, and even their own 
intellectual capacity, creativity, and language (As-
ante-Darko, 2002). Printed materials used in schools 
present stereotypical characters that portray men and 
women or people of color with specific roles in commu-
nities (Khorana, 1998). They reinforce rules about what 
languages are acceptable, and relative values placed 
on cultures from Africa versus those from Europe and 
North America. 

One way in which African schools reflect a colonial 
mindset was described by Wilfridah Mucherah in the 
opening plenary session of the 2018 WCTE. She ques-
tioned why African schools continue to teach reading 
using primers written from a European perspective – 
for example, “A is for Apple.” She learned to read using 
this common approach, yet never saw an apple until 
she attended graduate school in the United States as an



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  34 

adult. She proposed that African schools should use 
resources that reflect African contexts, languages and 
culture (Mucherah & Mbogori, 2019). For instance, 
in communities where avocados are so common, she 
suggested that reading books for young children could 
show that “A is for Avocado,” using an example that is 
tangible and relevant to the children’s experiences. 
Pandy and Moorad (2003) refer to the same goal when 
they emphasize that knowledge gained by pupils is 
dependent on their experiences, culture and language. 
Reformers suggest that if educational materials are de-
veloped with this assumption in mind, changes to peda-
gogies and educational structures may follow (Pandy & 
Moorad, 2003; Wooman, 2001).

Throughout the rest of the WCTE, participants in 
concurrent sessions mentioned Mucherah’s “A is for 
Apple” example as evidence that African schools need 
more control over the content of textbooks and sup-
plemental materials (readers) used in the classroom. 
These discussions made clear the need for new and 
different educational materials for African schools, 
developed by African authors and educators for an Af-
rican audience to reflect African culture, language and 
historical context. In this article, we present a structural 
framework for independent publishing that might offer 
a model for educators, illustrators, graphic designers 
and scholars in any region of the world. We present the 
model with the goal of encouraging collaborative teams 
to pursue the goals articulated by Mucherah & Mbogori 
(2019), Akena (2012) and many other academicians 
who share our goal of transforming education around 
the globe.

Educational Publishing for the African Continent
The idea of African authors publishing books for 

an African audience is certainly not new. The quote 
from Nottingham’s 1969 article about “establishing an 
African publishing industry” makes it clear that schol-
ars and businessmen alike were considering ways to 
overcome obstacles to publishing in Africa half a cen-
tury ago. There is a significant body of literature about 
efforts to create just such an industry. These efforts 
take the form of university-based presses (Darko-Am-
pen, 2004), indigenous and multinational publishing 
houses (Edwards & Ngwaru, 2012; Rosetti, 2013) and 
non-profit publishing consortia like the African Book 
Collective (Shercliff, 2016; Zell, 2016).

Early initiatives to establish an African publishing 
industry were less successful than Nottingham had 
hoped. Scholarly journals were usually owned by

American or European interests, and maintained the 
same “traditions” of content and process as their Amer-
ican and European counterparts (Darko-Ampen, 2004; 
Zell, 2016), including selecting European-language 
manuscripts based on profitability and their relevance 
to large industrialized nations (Darko-Ampen, 2004;Di-
levko & Dali, 2006). It seems clear that an industry that 
continues to operate using the traditional model has 
stifled transformation by continuing the status quo of 
the industry. Even so, there may be advantages to pub-
lishing books in Africa. The list of titles offered by the 
non-profit African Book Collective features many titles 
by and for Africans, including a growing list of titles for 
children that reflect indigenous culture, language and 
art. 

Frustration with educational publishing controlled 
by external businesses from non-African countries 
is not new. The publishing industry in Africa has not 
entirely erased all of the barriers that make it hard 
for African authors to publish books, but it continues 
to evolve. Nottingham said in 1969 that “Indigenous 
publishing in Africa is at the crossroads” (p. 141). 
Indigenous publishing in Africa, and around the world, 
is being transformed by business models that leverage 
technologies not available in 1969. The doors are open 
if only a handful of individuals with a vision for indige-
nous books are willing to step out of the traditional box 
to take advantage of the opportunities at hand.

New Opportunities in Self-Publishing
The new opportunities of which we speak involve 

a model of self-publishing that reduces overhead costs 
of publication to such a degree that small groups of 
partners can produce and distribute books with min-
imal initial investments. For authors writing for rel-
atively small audiences, this is a major advantage. In 
the traditional model, publishing a book required time, 
expertise, and significant financial backing. The most 
cost-effective model for publishing a book required 
“runs” of 500 or 1000 books, or more. The initial ex-
pense of a large run drove publishing houses to avoid 
ventures that might only reach a small group of readers. 
Independent authors were pushed out of the publish-
ing process altogether unless they could risk spending 
thousands of dollars for the first (and maybe only) run 
of a book. Self-publishers now have the option of work-
ing with “on-demand” print services that eliminate this 
barrier to the industry.

Some traditional academics have viewed self-pub-
lishing as a less-than-desirable process designed to

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  35 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

by-pass the rigorous scholarly process of editorial 
review. However, self-publishing has grown because of 
financial considerations and the desire to control copy-
rights (Odendaal, 2008). As digital printing technology 
made it possible for companies to print and bind small 
runs of books at low costs, on-demand services have 
emerged as a growing part of the industry (Laquintano, 
2016). 

Today’s technology not only allows publishing from 
anywhere in the world, but also greater collaboration of 
individuals in different locations. Authors can now easi-
ly work with illustrators, editors, graphic designers and 
photographers from around the world. Technology also 
offers new opportunities to create digital books offered 
as downloadable files for computers, tablets or smart-
phones. These “ebooks” promise even lower overhead 
costs, and allow authors to reach a global audience in 
an instant. 

With these opportunities in mind, we share our 
experiences and offer recommendations for creating 
collaborative teams to publish high-quality culturally 
relevant books for learning. The model we present is 
the result of four years of development for the Conser-
vation Tales project, an immersive learning program at 
Ball State University in Indiana, USA.   

A Framework for Collaborative Book Development
The Conservation Tales project began as an idea 

for a children’s book about wildlife conservation, a 
niche that was largely unfilled. The initial idea emerged 
when Dr. McConnell researched books about wildlife 
for young children. He noticed that the books did not 
mention conservation issues or teach children how 
their actions impact the environment. Readers can find 
out more about the book series at the Conservation 
Tales website. To date, the project has published eleven 
unique titles, two “Junior” versions revised for young-
er children, and an education game that teaches skills 
used by manatee researchers.

As the author began outlining the first story of a 
series of books, he recognized a need for other partners 
to help produce the book. He inquired about illustra-
tion students at his university’s School of Art, and a 
partnership emerged that became a comprehensive 
team effort. The first partnership included Barbara 
Giorgio-Booher, a Teaching Professor in the School of 
Art, and an animation student, Sami Pfaff, who helped 
illustrate the first book. Bringing an illustrator into the 
project was an essential step in creating quality reading 
material for children.

Graphic design is another key element of a book 
requiring specialized expertise in graphic design and 
communications that most authors lack. “Both graphic 
design and graphic communication incorporate words 
and images to convey data, concepts, and emotions” 
(Shake It Up Creative, 2018). Graphic designers are 
trained to design work that is effective in projecting 
ideas and experiences with visual and textual content.

Graphic designers understand typography, the 
selection of fonts, and work with images, such as draw-
ings and photographs; they help maintain consistency 
throughout a story and book series. This includes both 
digital and printed promotional materials and educa-
tional resources.  They help in designing a visual identi-
ty system to define graphic design standards; including 
fonts, logos, the relative size, proportion, and position 
of individual elements, and the selection of a color pal-
ette. Typography, the selection of fonts, is more import-
ant and more complex than most people realize. When 
writing for young readers, font size and the choice serif 
versus sans serif font is extremely important, especial-
ly when writing for a specific language (Nottingham, 
1969). Including a graphic design specialist will ensure 
continuity, a high standard of quality, and a clear, con-
sistent identity that appears across all media. 

Potential authors and publishers should keep in 
mind that this framework is a flexible model. Collabo-
rations will be most successful if they base their teams 
on the availability of participants with skill sets that 
enhance the quality of the book.

The current Conservation Tales team consists of the 
following roles:
• Lead Author – author, director, editor of the project.
• Art Director – visual artist to supervise and critique 

illustrations, photographs, and graphic design to 
meet certain performance expectations.

• Graphic Designer – team manager who coordinates 
the team’s progress and sets appropriate deadlines. 
Responsible for cover design and layout of text and 
images in the final product.

• Co-Author – content or education specialist to assist 
in researching and writing the story. 

• Two or Three Illustrators – specialists in illustrating 
characters, animals, backgrounds and natural envi-
ronments.

• Photographer – expert who documents team site 
visits, contributes and edits photographs, searches 
for public domain images, and document permis-
sions for third party images.

https://conservationtales.com
https://conservationtales.com
https://www.shakeitupcreative.com/2018/10/22/why-graphic-communication-is-important-for-your-business/


McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  36 

Recruiting Team Members
The team leaders are ultimately responsible for the 

creative concept of the book. The project goals are set 
by these leaders, with input from other team members. 
The directors must work to create a cohesive team. Any 
group planning a self-published book should identify a 
small group of two or three directors. For the Conserva-
tion Tales project, a key feature of the pair of directors 
is a shared vision for the project’s goals. Without this, 
the project may not be sustainable. 

Recruiting other team members is a critical factor 
in the project’s success. For the Conservation Tales, 
these books are created by undergraduate students 
at the directors’ university. The choice to recruit stu-
dents dictates the scope of available team members. 
Other projects may choose to include other types of 
professionals. Students were recruited from the major 
disciplines of visual communication (graphic design), 
animation, drawing, photography, elementary edu-
cation, special education, biology and environmental 
management. This choice affects overhead costs, but 
the “right team” for your project may include people 
with extensive experience.

The directors implemented a selective recruiting 
and application process. They advertised for team 
members with a request for letters of interest, resumés, 
and portfolios of the applicants’ work. The directors 
reviewed applications and scheduled interviews. Appli-
cants were asked to explain their interest in the project 
to reveal each person’s motivation to contribute to a 
children’s book about wildlife conservation. Most of the 
selected team members had strong personal commit-
ments to conservation, animal welfare or education. It 
is important to first empathize, understand and desire 
to learn about wildlife conservation. This deep personal 
connection to project goals influenced the team’s com-
mitment to completing a high-quality final product.

It was important to be inclusive and incorporate 
different perspectives when interviewing team mem-
bers. We found it valuable to incorporate their perspec-
tives when developing the characters and narratives to 
better connect with a diverse audience. Conservation 
Tales works to depict women, individuals with disabil-
ities, cultural diversity and underrepresented groups 
as the scientists and children who learn about science. 
Promoting inclusivity with team members can bring 
together unlikely allies and support transformative 
change (Opportunity Agenda, 2017).

Interviews also revealed areas of overlapping ex-
pertise. Co-authors on Tigers and Orangutans were

science majors who had some art experience. Their 
contributions extended beyond writing stories. Two 
graphic designers who worked on eight different books 
also contributed photography for the project. The 
illustrator for Elephants and Tigers used her minor in 
screen writing to help with proofreading and editing 
of four different books. Project directors should con-
sider team members with multiple skills as a way to 
ensure quality content. This cross-skill connection also 
improves the team’s communication. Collaborations 
that allow individuals to work across disciplines lead to 
innovative outcomes with an improved understanding 
of the issues being discussed (Salmons, 2019).

Individuals selected for the project were asked to 
sign a formal agreement giving “non-exclusive rights” 
to the project for materials they contributed. Team 
members in the first year were paid a stipend. Lat-
er participants earned course credits for their work 
instead of receiving a stipend. The agreement reflected 
these policies. The contract gave the project permis-
sion to use photos, illustrations, graphic design (logos 
and visual identity), and text for promotional and 
online products as well as books. The students retain 
full ownership of their creative products, giving artists 
rights to sell original illustrations and photographs. The 
agreement stipulated the number of books received by 
each team member and a policy to purchase copies at 
cost. Any project creating a similar collaborative team 
should consider the terms of “employment” for all team 
members. If possible, legal council should be consulted 
for such an agreement.

Roles of Team Members
The development of teams for the Conservation 

Tales project taught us that the team’s success depends 
on clear definitions of the roles of each member. The 
current framework includes a set of job descriptions 
and project expectations. The directors discussed the 
roles with an experienced graphic designer who served 
as a “project manager.” Their experience on other books 
helped them understand potential pitfalls in the pro-
duction process. We recommend that a graphic design-
er perform a similar role in other collaborations. The 
designer is likely the last person to handle the assets 
created by writers, illustrators and photographers 
before submitting the manuscript for printing. This 
important role makes it sensible to include the designer 
in setting a schedule of deadlines.  

The designer and directors set a final deadline and 
worked backwards to identify tentative deadlines for 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  37 

finished illustrations, drafts of text, blackline versions 
of artwork, storyboards, cover art, and content re-
search. As the leadership team created the schedule, 
roles of each team member became more apparent. 
Table 1 contains a summary of the key activities per-
formed under each role to complete the books.

The project’s goals determined the skills needed 
to accomplish them and guided the selection of team 
members. Conservation Tales teams include three 
illustrators, with one dedicated to drawing the animals 
featured in the story to ensure that animals are drawn 
with scientific accuracy. The other illustrators focus 
on human characters and settings for the story based 
on the research the team conducted. This model fits 
well for our project because most of the illustrators are 
animation students who learn to collaborate and work 
in a similar manner. For publication projects with a 
different audience or a different type of artist design, a 
single illustrator may be a better choice. Some projects 
may have no need for a photographer, while others 
might need translators to write multiple versions of a 
manuscript in different languages. Directors need to 
clearly identify the project’s goals and the strategies 
needed to accomplish those goals before creating a plan 
for building a team.

Directors also need to consider where to find team

goals of the project – elementary education, biology 
and environmental management students. Project 
leaders can contact university instructors and depart-
ment chairs to see if they can offer course credits for an 
internship.

Students in the disciplines we have described are 
likely to have the skills needed by a publishing proj-
ect and the desire to gain valuable experience. Since 
students are expected to meet performance expecta-
tions at a high level, we suggest working primarily with 
upperclassmen – juniors and seniors who have enough 
coursework to have advanced skills in art, design, and 
technology such as publication software. If the stu-
dents can use their work with a publication as course 
assignments or credit hours in their major programs, 
the project planners and students all benefit from the 
relationship.

Team leaders need to beware of creating too large a 
team. A team with too many people, especially authors 
and illustrators, will make project management more 
difficult than with a small team. We recommend that 
planners streamline the process and select contributors 
who have skills the team truly needs.

Work Flow for Book Development
The work on the publication begins as team mem

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

members. Projects to create educational 
books are likely to be initiated by educators 
or content experts such as scientists, com-
munity health leaders, or historians. Find-
ing artists and designers may begin with 
an Internet search for freelance illustrators 
and graphics experts who advertise their 
services online. Projects that cannot afford 
to pay professionals may find that universi-
ties are a great resource. Students in visual 
communication (graphic design) and the vi-
sual arts are often expected to connect with 
community partners through internships, 
course projects, and collaborative assign-
ments. These students might be able to par-
ticipate for course credit or a small stipend, 
and will likely be eager to gain professional 
experience and use the books in portfolios 
to help with job searches. If the project can 
provide art supplies, this is an appealing 
incentive to entice student artists.

The co-authors we selected were also 
students in disciplines that matched the



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  38 

bers are being selected. The process we suggest is 
based on a review of the successes and challenges 
we faced in the early iterations of the Conservation 
Tales project. Figure 1 offers a general workflow that 
emerged from our efforts.

Team leaders usually begin with an initial concept 
or topic for the book. The authors can then construct 
a story outline – a general direction that identifies the 
types of research needed, characters to be developed, 
and a general plot for the story. Our team researched 
the content by shadowing and interviewing scientists, 
reading articles and websites about the featured spe-
cies, and learning about diversity issues relevant to the 
accurate depiction of children in the stories. 

Research was a key focus in the first weeks of the 
project, and continued throughout the development 
process. Team members observed and interviewed the 
consulting scientists depicted in the story to ensure the 
authenticity of the books. The team communicated with 
the consultants via email to gather additional informa-
tion. Drafts of the story were shared with the consul-
tants for a review of content accuracy. After returning 
to campus, the team used on-site sketches, photographs 
and interviews to create all of the elements of the 
books. The team’s discussions expanded upon their 
initial ideas and helped to direct the story development.

The entire team used the story outline and research 
to create storyboards to assist in the design, layout 
and placement of photographs and illustrations. Story-
boarding is the creation of a pictorial sketch of the story

that creates a more detailed roadmap for the team. 
Storyboards should be revisited regularly to update 
the plan with details and revised story elements. The 
storyboard guides authors, illustrators, designers and 
photographers in their respective roles.

One of the first important tasks for illustrators and 
designers was the creation of a cover for the book. Our 
experience suggests that developing the cover creates 
a sense of direction and a visual theme that drives the 
rest of the design process. Illustrators used this step to 
create the first character illustrations and animals as 
the graphic designer selected fonts and color schemes 
to establish a theme that was carried throughout the 
book.

Illustrators created rough sketches of characters, 
animals, and scenery that they eventually developed as 
black-line drawings and full color drawings and paint-
ings through a continual review and critique process by 
the entire team. At the same time, authors wrote more 
detailed story elements, incorporating the information 
collected during research, and creating a story that 
conveys the concepts that address the book’s goals. The 
writers worked closely with illustrators and photogra-
phers in the storyboarding process to ensure the story 
and images complemented each other.

 Graphic designers created initial layout examples 
to test placement of text with initial drawings and 
photographs. The designers combine the illustrations, 
photographs and text based on the team’s planning for 
the story. The graphic designers were responsible for 
ensuring that the book files were ready for print pro-
duction.

Reiterative cycles of review, critique and revision 
eventually led teams to a full draft of the book. The 
team then sent the draft to an on-demand print ser-
vice to produce a proof copy - a first rough copy that 
allowed the team to examine layout design, colors, illus-
trations and photographs. At the same time, the team 
shared digital drafts with external experts for review. 
This external review was extremely important to the 
quality of the final products. The team shared the drafts 
with the content consultants who served as the models 
for the scientists in the stories. We also asked practic-
ing teachers to review books and offer suggestions to 
ensure that the stories were useful for children and 
teachers. The addition of elements like captions and 
author notes was guided by early reviews by educators. 
Team members and external experts also contributed 
to a detailed proofreading and editing process for the 
text of the story.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  39 

After a thorough review of the proofs, revisions 
were made to the books. The final step was to submit 
final versions of the book for printing, followed by the 
official “release” for public purchase. This process var-
ies depending on the print service used, but the most 
common processes include online forms to enter titles, 
authors and illustrators, ISBN numbers, pricing infor-
mation, and other technical details for the book. The 
team then uploads separate PDF versions of the cover 
and book interior. Most print shops then complete a 
review to ensure that files meet their technical specifi-
cations. Once the book is approved by both the printer 
and the “authors,” the book is almost immediately avail-
able for purchase through an online store. 

The next section describes some key decisions team 
leaders need to consider in planning a publishing proj-
ect. Some of the decisions focus on business plans and 
legal issues. Others are about artistic style or are more 
technical in nature. All of these issues are important if 
the team hopes to create a marketable publication.

Key Decisions for Publication Projects
The workflow (Figure 1) gives a simplified descrip-

tion of the process of a book project. However, there are 
important decisions the team leaders need to consid-
er before and during the process. As professionals in 
education and the arts, the decisions were new to our 
team, so this section is offered to help other authors 
and self-publishers prepare for the challenges we en-
countered. Our team chose solutions based on our goals 
for the project and the resources available to us. Other 
collaborations may need to choose a different path, but 
many of the questions that planners will face are the 
same.

Business Plan 
When the team has identified the goal and topic for 

the project, the next step is to think about a business 
plan. Even if the project is a not-for-profit endeavor, we 
recommend that the project establish certain param-
eters for the project. The choices described here will 
influence the process and decisions to be made later in 
the project.

One of the first provisos we offer is that self-pub-
lishing is NOT a path to enormous wealth. A self-pub-
lished book may earn a modest income, but do not 
expect to get rich with this project. Project goals should 
address a specific need in schools or in the target com-
munities. Even so, the choices described here can help 
reduce legal liabilities and unexpected expenses that 

could prevent a publication project from reaching its 
goal.

Print vs. digital – An early decision to make is 
whether the book will be sold as a print version, as an 
electronic book, or both. Today’s technology makes 
it very easy to create e-books that can be accessed 
through applications for computers, tablets and smart 
phones. If the books will be digital, the layout and 
design need to take into consideration the size of the 
screen and how a reader advances through the pages. 

If a print book is the goal, the team will select from 
a range of book sizes, cover types, color or black-and-
white options, and paper quality. Final decisions about 
these matters are based on the audience, costs of the 
options and project goals. Hard cover books are ide-
al for libraries, especially for children, but the cost of 
binding is about three times higher than a paper back 
cover. Color printing is better for young children, but 
slightly more expensive than black-and-white printing.  
Any on-demand or self-publishing service will allow 
planners to explore options and adjust settings as the 
project moves forward.

Copyright ownership – Published materials are 
the intellectual property of the author and publisher, 
so protecting the rights to a book is an important initial 
step. There are many copyright options available to a 
self-published author. One of the early decisions should 
be about who will hold the copyrights to the book. 

First, planners should ensure that no other author 
owns the copyrights to the title you are considering. It 
is important to do some homework, and devote time to 
a thorough search for books of the same title. The Con-
servation Tales project considered a few titles that were 
eliminated because other publishers had copyright or 
trademark protections that made those titles legally 
impossible.

Project leaders who wish to retain copyrights need 
to find out how to file or establish copyrights in the 
country in which the book will be published since laws 
and required forms vary by country. In some places, 
forms need to be filed and approvals obtained before 
the publication is copyrighted. In others, a printed work 
is copyrighted simply by transmitting the work via mail 
or electronic communication, but a registered copyright 
may offer more protections for authors. 

Another option is to allow the company that prints, 
binds and distributes the book to hold the copyright. 
On-demand and self-publishing services usually offer 
this option early in the planning stages. The service is 
most often free or very inexpensive, but the revenue

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  40 

authors earn will be lower. In this option, the print ser-
vice assumes the responsibility for marketing the book, 
but they also retain a larger percentage of the profits 
and can transfer the copyright without the author’s 
permission. 

One way to help establish copyrights is to register 
an International Standard Book Number (ISBN). This is 
a unique number registered with government agencies, 
usually through companies that help you submit the 
formal registration for a fee. The cost of an individual 
ISBN number is about $20 USD. If a project plans to 
produce multiple books, a more cost-effective option 
is to create an “imprint” of your own and purchase a 
“block” of ten ISBN numbers at a reduced cost. An im-
print is the name of a publishing company or service to 
which the copyright is assigned. For Conservation Tales, 
the author had already established his own unincorpo-
rated publishing company under a name selected after 
the same type of search as for the title. This imprint 
name is used as the “publisher” for the Conservation 
Tales series, and has since incorporated.

Self-publishing and on-demand services offer 
authors the option to assign one of their registered 
ISBN numbers to the book they wish to publish. This 
is a cheaper option than registering one’s own ISBN 
number, but it usually means the authors have assigned 
copyright ownership to the publishing service. As 
stated previously, this means a smaller percentage of 
revenue forwarded to your project. The print service 
may also offer options for the creation of a barcode on 
the cover of the book. The print shop may add this, or 
the author/publisher can insert their own barcodes. 
Barcodes can be created when the ISBN is registered 
for a small additional fee. The decisions about how to 
handle copyright, ISBN registration and barcodes needs 
to be made with consideration to cost, convenience, 
and the relative importance of maintaining control of 
copyrights.

Authorship – Planners need to establish a policy for 
listing author and co-authors. This may seem like a sim-
ple issue, but the order of authors is sometimes import-
ant to the parties involved. Putting a policy on paper 
for how authors are listed helps to avoid personal or 
legal disputes after publication. Similarly, illustrators 
should be listed on the cover and on the title page of a 
book, so a clear policy for this should be included in the 
plan. If the project team includes other contributors, we 
strongly recommend each member of the team should 
be acknowledged, both on the title page of the book and 
in a later section. Conservation Tales books include a

“Meet the Team” page to acknowledge all contributors. 
While this policy is not a legal requirement for publish-
ing, it is most ethical, and helps to create a strong sense 
of teamwork and ownership that enhances the quality 
of the product.

Distribution plan – Project leaders should also 
develop a plan for how they will distribute the books. 
Most on-demand and self-publication services offer 
online sales. However, for projects that retain copy-
rights, marketing of the books may fall on the author or 
publisher. The print service markets the books if they 
hold the copyrights, but the amount royalties paid to 
authors is reduced. Authors should anticipate the need 
to advertise, promote and distribute the books on their 
own.

The developer of a book can usually purchase 
copies of the title at an “author price,” usually the cost 
of printing and binding plus a small fee for the printer. 
Shipping and taxes are not included. This offers a way 
for project planners to purchase copies and sell them 
directly to customers. Purchasing copies requires an 
expenditure and a financial risk if the team cannot sell 
enough books to realize a profit. Conservation Tales 
keeps a minimal number of copies “in stock,” but keeps 
enough to sell books at public outreach events, confer-
ences, and festivals. We also have the ability to provide 
small orders directly to schools and teachers. All other 
sales take place online either through the on-demand 
print service, or via a project website with an electron-
ic store. This reduces the effort by our team to handle 
sales and shipping.

When determining the price of a book, planners 
may want to sell copies at a wholesale price for book 
stores. Booksellers usually double the wholesale price 
when they sell to retail customers. The retail price 
should be set high enough to still earn a small profit 
when selling to retailers at half price. On-demand print 
services will set the price according to the authors’ in-
structions, and forward the royalties to the author from 
online sales. Planners need to consider taxes that will 
be charged for books. In some African countries, tax 
rates for books may be as high as 14%. Tax rates may 
influence the willingness of customers to buy the books. 
If the books will be sold in more than one country, this 
decision might be more complicated. For some projects, 
this may not be an issue if they plan to use funds from 
grants or government agencies to purchase copies and 
distribute to schools for free.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  41 

Selecting a Printing Service
All of the decisions described in the Business Plan 

section should be made early in any project, in part 
because the answers will shape the choice of a print-
er/publisher for the book. There are several different 
services available. Companies that offer these services 
in Africa include Printivo, 48hrbooks.com and New 
Voices Publishing Services. Some services are only 
available in specific regions, like Digitalprintondemand 
in South Africa. Kindle Direct Publishing, the printer for 
Conservation Tales, may be best suited for digital books 
produced in Africa because they currently do not have a 
print facility in Africa and do not offer affordable ship-
ping to the continent. 

Planners should explore these companies and oth-
ers to find a vendor that provides the right combination 
of cost, profitability, convenience, technical support and 
access to customers for the needs of the project. Since 
one goal of self-publishing is to put more control in the 
hands of local individuals, planners may wish to look 
for other local companies that can offer services to suit 
those needs better than the large corporate printing 
services.

Project Management
Project management should be flexible, holistic and 

team-based. An agile approach to project management, 
like the “scrum” framework (Sliger, 2011), allows for 
shorts bursts of activity as team members continually 
shape the direction of the project. Team leaders begin 
by articulating goals and outcomes, setting expecta-
tions, and providing a means for project evaluation. 
They introduce teams to important dates and when 
interactions with scientists will occur. The processes 
that team leaders need to direct are described in the 
following sections. 

Artistic style – One of the early discussions with 
team members should address the artistic vision of the 
project. Team leaders will likely have an idea what type 
of appearance and artwork they want to include in the 
book. Choices about artistic style depend on the target 
audience and the goals of the project, but the aesthetic 
vision of the team members will also impact the final 
results. Questions to address should include the follow-
ing:

• Will illustrations be realistic or stylized? 
•	Will	illustrations	reflect	a	specific	art	genre?	
•	Will	text	be	in	blocks	or	arranged	to	flow	with	the	

artwork? 

• What color palettes will be used and what kind of 
medium will be used to create the illustrations? 

All these choices are important, and ensuring that the 
team is aware of the themes to guide their work helps 
to avoid conflicts of style later in the process.

Target audience – Planners should determine who 
the readers will be. Is the book intended for young chil-
dren just learning to read? Does the project target older 
children in intermediate grades, secondary students, 
or even adult learners in the community? This is an 
extremely important decision because the writing style 
will vary dramatically for different readers. For authors 
who are accustomed to writing scholarly research pa-
pers, this adjustment is difficult. The sentence struc-
ture, vocabulary, and length of text on each page need 
to be appropriate for the target audience. Small issues, 
such as changing passive sentences to active, affect the 
readability of the text. Conservation Tales uses tools in 
Microsoft Word that provide readability statistics when 
it checks spelling and grammar. There are many other 
ways to assess reading level. If the development team 
does not include age-specific educators, we recommend 
consulting with a reading specialist for help in assess-
ing and adjusting the reading level of the text to suit the 
target audience.

Book developers also have opportunities to publish 
books in different languages. This issue echoes ques-
tions we posed in the opening sections of the books 
about making books culturally relevant. If the goal of a 
publishing project is to create educational materials for 
a specific country or region, the world of self-publica-
tion gives authors expanded opportunities to write in 
the language of their choice. Books that teach reading 
or history in Akan, Kiswahili, Yoruba, Iszulu or any of 
the many tribal languages are much easier to produce 
through self-publishing than through large internation-
al publishing houses. Accelere!1 (Chemionics, 2020) is 
an example of a project that produces books for school 
children in three indigenous languages in the Demo-
cratic Republic of Congo. If publishing in an indigenous 
language is one of the goals of the project, it is import-
ant to make sure at least one team member is fluent in 
both the written and spoken language. The graphic de-
signer should also consult with readers of that language 
when selecting the best font for the book (Nottingham, 
1969).

External reviewers and editors – The need for ex-
ternal review process may seem like a decision that can 
wait until late in the project. However, we encourage 
planners to think about this step early in the process

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  42 

Team leaders should not wait until the story text is 
finished to begin your search for external reviewers. 
They should allow plenty of time to communicate with 
reviewers and editors because these external partners 
may not be bound to project deadlines. Conservation 
Tales sends drafts to external reviews to assess content 
accuracy, authentic depiction of diversity issues, and 
the fit for our target audience. We also ask for help from 
others in reviewing the cultural context of the book’s 
story and illustrations. It is not uncommon for reviewer 
feedback to be the last bit of information we receive 
for the final revisions, so we try to start the process as 
early as possible to avoid delays in meeting deadlines. 
Requests to reviewers should include target dates that 
leave the time for the team to finish the book before the 
final deadline.

Technical Considerations
Once the team begins work on a book, all members 

of the team need to be mindful of technical require-
ments for producing high quality printed material. 
Some of the requirements are dictated by the printing 
service selected to produce the books. These specifi-
cations are based on either the process of printing and 
binding a book or on the business plan choices de-
scribed earlier. 

Printing specifications – When a printing service 
is selected, the company provides a set of specifications 
for file formats, color standards, and image quality. 
Most companies will offer templates to help plan page 
layouts and margins. One of the reasons to include a 
graphic designer on the team is to ensure that files 
meet these specifications.

From the beginning of the project, team mem-
bers need to have a clear understanding of the images 
needed for printing. Printers require a minimum of 300 
dots per inch (dpi) for all images and finished pages. 
Some printers will require even higher resolutions for 
black-line graphs and diagrams. Illustrators on the team 
need to begin their sketches with this standard in mind. 
They should plan to create drawings and paintings that 
are larger than the finished images that will appear 
in the book. All images will need to be transformed 
into a digital format, even if created using traditional 
art media like paints, pastels or colored pencils. If an 
original illustration is too small, and the designer needs 
to enlarge it, the result is a grainy image that does not 
reproduce well in print. 

Color palettes used for illustrations also need to 
meet certain specifications. If the book will be in print

format, all colors needs to be saved in CMYK format. 
This format is based on the cyan, magenta, yellow and 
black inks used in the printing process. If the book will 
be digital, RGB colors will be needed. These work with 
the red, green and blue pixels that create color images 
on a computer monitor. If the correct color palette is 
not used, the colors on the final product may not match 
what the artists and designers created.

Printers also set requirements for file types. Most 
of them require PDF files for the cover and the interior. 
Others may ask for images as TIFF or EPS files. Some 
companies ask for single page layouts, while others ask 
for a side-by-side book page layout. 

Templates provided by the printer will show mar-
gins, gutters, trim, and bleed lines. All text needs to 
fall within the margins. The gutter describes the area 
where pages meet, creating a wider margin on the “in-
ner” edge of the page. Illustrators and designers need to 
keep in mind that content falling in the gutter may not 
be visible in the bound book. Trim and bleed lines are 
features defined by the process of printing, trimming 
and binding the books. The trim lines show where the 
pages are expected to be cut. If illustrations and back-
grounds will go all the way to the edge, a “bleed” line 
will be seen outside the trim lines. Images meant to be 
printed all the way to the edge of the page should ex-
tend beyond the trim lines to the bleed lines. Once the 
book is printed, pages are cut to size, and a small part 
of the image will be trimmed off in the process. Illus-
trators and designers need to be aware of this to avoid 
putting critical information at the edge of the page. This 
process makes it very important to work with a graph-
ic designer who has been trained to work with these 
parameters.

Third-party materials – Another requirement is 
a policy on the use of third-party materials. The most 
likely example of a third-party resource is an image 
such as a photograph, illustration, clipart design, a 
graph or a map. In every case, images from third-par-
ties – any image not created by the team – requires the 
publisher to get express permission and to properly 
attribute the image to the source. Incorporating copy-
righted images usually involves paying the owner for 
permission. In some cases, the fee is nominal. However, 
some sources, especially photographs and images from 
corporations like movie studios, may charge fees that 
can be hundreds of dollars (USD).

Fortunately, there are other options. Websites that 
offer public domain or “Creative Commons” materials 
are excellent resources for authors and designers.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  43 

There are several sources of public domain and Cre-
ative Commons images. Links to some of these sites 
have been provided in the “Resources” list at the end 
of this article. Public domain images, often from gov-
ernment agencies, are free for use. Legal guidelines do 
not require attribution of the author (listing the owner 
and year), but ethical practice suggests including a 
small caption showing the source on or near the image. 
Creative Commons status offers a variety of licens-
ing options, usually labeled as “CC.2.0” or some other 
numbered license. Some materials are free for use 
with attribution, including a link to the original source. 
Others prohibit use for commercial products like books. 
Owners may also stipulate a small fee to use an image. 
Project planners need to pay close attention the terms 
and limitations of each type of Creative Commons 
license. As educators, it is important to practice ethical 
use of intellectual process, and it is the “publisher’s” le-
gal responsibility to abide by the terms of the licenses.

Technical process for team – Other technical con-
siderations should address how the development team 
works on the book. This involves identifying the tools 
the team will use to produce the text and images in 
the book. Illustrators may wish to paint or draw using 
traditional media. If the illustrators are paid a stipend, 
they will often be expected to purchase their own ma-
terials. Conservation Tales used project funds to provide 
these materials as one of the benefits of being on the 
team. The team needs to agree on the software for pro-
ducing text, images and layouts, including the format of 
the files they save. The industry standard in publishing 
is the Adobe suite of software, Creative Cloud. This can 
be expensive, but many graphic designers and artists 
already use it. The most essential applications in this 
suite are Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Photo-
shop is one of the leading tools for digital artists, and 
can help photographers edit images. Illustrator and 
InDesign are layout and publishing programs used in 
the graphic design field.

There are other less expensive programs that can 
be used to carry out the same tasks, so the team should 
pick tools that are accessible to members. It is import-
ant to ensure that the software can export or save files 
in the formats required by printers, so the team should 
refer to the technical specifications provided by the 
print service selected for the final product.

The team also needs to select a method for sharing 
files. Each team member will create files for their re-
spective contribution to the book. The graphic designer 
will eventuall need to access these files to place them in

page layouts. Cloud storage is an easy option, but it is 
important to make sure the project has enough stor-
age space for files. Images and page layouts will use 
large amounts of storage space. If the team runs out 
of storage space, backing up files becomes an issue. 
The choice of a cloud service should be guided by local 
availability and ease of access for all team members.

Conservation Tales required team members to 
save all files in Box, with shared folders for each book. 
Managing the many files created by the team was a 
challenge, so the team created a guide for naming files 
and locations for storing them. The graphic designers 
should be involved in guiding the decisions about file 
names because the designer will be the last person who 
needs to find the files.

In an age of technology, project teams might also 
collaborate from different geographic locations. If the 
specialists you need live far away, videoconferencing 
tools like WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, and other videocon-
ference applications permit collaborations that can be 
productive. The Conservation Tales team was required 
to complete two books in the spring of 2020 in a virtual 
environment when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 
university to close campus. The Conservation Tales team 
demonstrated that completing a publishing project 
from a distance is possible, even when team members 
use laptops, desktop computers, tablets and even smart 
phones to connect. For similar needs, a project team 
should select a common videoconferencing tool that 
allows team members to “share screens” so they can 
view samples of artwork and layouts as they review 
and critique the work.

Implications for Potential Authors
The process of creating a book as we have de-

scribed appears to be very complicated, but with the 
right membership on the team to help with the differ-
ent tasks, self-publishing is within reach. As Notting-
ham (1969) wrote, “There is no technological reason 
why” educational books for African learners cannot be 
written, edited, designed and published in Africa.

Odendaal (2008) described the importance of the 
publisher: “The academic publisher is a gatekeeper of 
knowledge and thus controls what appears in print” (p. 
52). Self-publishing opportunities afforded by current 
technology and business models have made it easier 
for indigenous authors to become the “gatekeepers” as 
they shape the knowledge that appears in print to meet 
local and regional educational needs. Educators who 
hope to help decolonialize schools and social

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  44 

institutions in Africa – or any other part of the world – 
have the tools and support systems at their fingertips 
needed to create materials that can help achieve their 
goals. Authors no longer need to rely on the vision of 
large publishing companies who are driven by large 
profit goals and may not share the author’s objectives. 
The availability of these tools makes it easier than ever 
for local experts to develop books in indigenous lan-
guages, with illustrations and photos that are relevant 
to indigenous learners, and reflect authentic historical 
and cultural contexts. A leading publishing professional 
in South Africa, Brian Wafawarowa, describes the need 
to facilitate such participation in the publishing indus-
try:

“… an ideal publishing sector is one in which peo-
ple of all races and cultural persuasion have the 
space to participate in the various aspects of the 
book sector, a sector where the knowledge pool 
is enriched by the diversity of the literature that 
is available and where the population indulges in 
reading beyond reading for instruction purposes 
in institutions of learning” 
(Wafawarowa, 2004)

The primary barrier to producing locally relevant 
materials, then, may be a perception by interested in-
dividuals that publishing is too difficult or too complex. 
The leadership team of the Conservation Tales project 
faced these same concerns. We discovered that we 
needed specialists with specialized skills and the will-
ingness to collaborate. We also found that support and 
interested partners were not hard to find, especially if 
we were willing to work with university students. Their 
technical skills and openness to try new ideas led to a 
level of quality that would have been impossible with-
out these key team members. More importantly, their 
creativity drove the rapid growth of our project and 
the addition of valuable ideas for developing marketing 
materials, educational activities, and key features of our 
books that appeal to our target audience.

Conclusion
As educators consider the need to improve curricu-

lum and educational materials for children in Africa, or 
any other country for that matter, the barriers present-
ed by the control of publishing companies on the avail-
able resources is growing less important. We present 
the example of the Conservation Tales series as a model 
for the development of locally-produced, culturally 
relevant educational materials. 

The time is right for independent authors, educa-
tors, illustrators and others to use their expertise to 
make the materials they know are needed for schools 
and communities. We present this goal not only as 
an educational strategy, but also as a tool for deco-
lonialization. Self-publishing authors can take a lead 
role in transforming schools and society by  becoming 
creators, not just consumers, of the information that 
presents images intended to shape young and mallea-
ble minds.

It is clear that building a collaborative team of 
individual who bring specific skills are helpful to a suc-
cessful publishing project: authors, illustrators, graphic 
designers, editors, and educators. Such a team can then 
use the current on-demand, digital and self-publishing 
resources to produce quality and relevant educational 
materials available with very little overhead expense. 

Our hope is that the framework for a collaborative 
team described above can serve as a model that others 
can adopt, adapt and remold to suit their needs. Per-
haps more importantly, we hope to inspire the innova-
tion and entrepreneurial spirit that can help our fellow 
educators become “knowledge creators” (Zegeye & 
Vambe, 2006) who produce high-quality, cultural rele-
vant educational resources for schools. As we explained 
earlier, the doors truly are open if a handful of individ-
uals with a vision for indigenous books are willing to 
step out of the traditional box to take advantage of the 
opportunities at hand.

Resources for Self-Publishing

ISBN Registration Services
Bowker ISBN-US

ISBN Services

Companies Offering On-Demand Printing in Africa
Printivo

48hrbooks.com
Digitalprintondemand

New Voices Publishing Services
Kindle Direct Publishing

Creative Commons & Public Domain Image Sources
Flickr

Unsplash
Pexels

Pixabay
Creative Commons Search

Wikimedia Commons

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

http://www.bowker.com/products/ISBN-US.html
https://www.isbnservices.com
https://printivo.com/
https://www.48hrbooks.com/
https://www.printondemand.co.za/
 https://www.newvoices.co.za/
https://KDP.amazon.com
https://flickr.com
https://unsplash.com/
https://www.pexels.com/
https://pixabay.tumblr.com/
https://search.creativecommons.org/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photographs


McConnell & Giorgio-Booher, Collaborative Self-Publishing  45 

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1 Tom J. McConnell (tjmcconnell@bsu.edu) is a Professor 
in the Department of Biology at Ball State University, 
Muncie, IN, USA.

2 Barbara Giorgio-Booher (bgiorgio@bsu.edu) is a 
Teaching Professor in the School of Art at Ball State 
University, Muncie, IN, USA.

Authors

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https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/agile-project-management-scrum-6269

