If you have a story and think it would make a good book, call us. If you or someone you know has a book manuscript that‘s been lying on the shelf for many years, now’s the time to knock the dust off and give us a call. We will provide you with an outlined proposal to produce, publish and help promote your book.
Proposal: Below you will find the information outlined and very simple to follow because after publishing many books, we know how important it is to keep the process as simple as possible with focus on the author and their book.
Style: format, size and binding are very important! If you haven’t already, we suggest that you visit your local library or bookstore and search for styles that you like. We can produce your book in whatever style you want.
Manuscript: We can take the story/book on long-hand or typed paper, the preferred method is electronic files. We will generate a completed manuscript for final edit and proofing.
Edit & Proofing: We have professional editing and proofing available for all books and highly recommend that your book is done by our staff even if you have had it done before. More eyes can’t hurt and if it were done correctly, then it shouldn’t take long or cost much to review again.
Layout: The layout can be done in chapters with a contents and/or index to make it easy for the reader. For large books with many pages or reference books, we can use tabs and/or section pages. If it’s a short story, book of poems, children’s book or any kind of small book, you can use page numbers or nothing at all.
Pages: We use many thicknesses of paper and can usually get whatever you want; we can also use many colors for the paper stock. The pages can feature text and graphics; we can use a glossy stock for color pages, uncoated stock for text only or both. The text/graphics pages can be done in a four-color process, black & white or anywhere in-between.
Extra Pages: These pages can include; author’s bio, dedications, forewords, introductions or anything the author would like the reader to know prior to the story.
Title & Copyright Pages: The title-page is basically the cover with title and author information. We will feature our publisher’s info and your copyright info on the copyright-page; we normally feature this page on the backside of the title-page.
Graphics: If there is any artwork or graphics, they will need to be submitted in high resolution files prior to production. If you are contracting the graphics or illustrations, this work will need to be provided to us directly from your design company.
Register & Promote: In addition to publishing your book, we will register it with R.R. Bowker and the US Library of Congress; provide the ISBN, EAN, UPC, and apply for Copyright issued in the author’s name. We will help with book promotions and make them available at area and national bookstores and their websites. We are an approved vendor with Baker & Taylor Books, Barnes & Noble/B. Dalton, Borders/Waldenbooks, Bass Pro Shops and Hastings bookstores.
Pricing & Selling: You should research pricing of similar style books at your local bookstores, then choose a retail sales point that will help your book sell. Being competitive in the retail markets should create great demand for your book, plus great exposure for you and your next venture. The rule-of-thumb for selling these types of books is: only count on fifty-percent (50%) of the retail price; you will need to give the retail stores this margin to sell your books.
Project Time: To do all that we have outlined above will take approx 8-10 weeks from start to delivery, taking into account that we get the completed manuscript and proofs back in a timely manner.
Order: Like anything else; the more you buy at one time, the lower the unit cost is. We understand that this is hard to know in the beginning; that’s why we will give you several different options to choose from.
Profit: We will break down your total costs into a per-book value, which will help you keep track of how much profit you’ll make on each book sold.
Net Profit: Using the 50% sales scenarios from above and after paying yourself back for initial costs, your net-profit is what you have left. These totals will be much higher if you sell the books directly and keep a full margin per book.
Terms: Payment schedule; one-half down payment and remaining balance prior to delivery. You then own all your books.
Shipping: The shipping costs to have your books delivered to you will be included in your proposal. The shipment’s packing-slip then becomes the beginning of your sales inventory.
