What's New?
Children's Books
A lot of the self-publishers who sub-contract work on Elance.com are parents writing books for their children. Last year I did the layout for Not Fat Because I Wanna Be, a book Toyiah White wrote for her daughter who was being teased 
at school for being overweight. Ms. White had a quality hardcover edition printed by Foshan Chuanghongyi Printing (Guangdong, China) and a softcover edition printed by Createspace. The book was an unusual success, leading to several high profile media interviews. Later last year she followed up with a coloring/activity book titled Stand-Up: Bully Busters Coming to Town, for which I also did the layout and cover design.
I recently finished two children's books, My Daddy's Hero, by Kylee Gregory, about a little girl whose father is deployed to Afghanistan, and Professor Finds His Path, by Thomas Weatherspoon, an inspiring book in verse of a father advising his son about the real magic in life. The illustrations on all these books were done by others 
(I have to be careful when I bid on book cover jobs on Elance to note that I don't draw, though I wish I could). I take them, add special effects and titles, then prepare them for the printer. In the case of Professor Finds His Path, the author laid out the front and back covers, while I divided his verse into stanzas and laid out the interior. The self-publishing parents take the job from there, although I'm always available to help them if they run into difficulties, and I always guarantee that my work is what the printers call "trouble-free".