Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Publisher on the Grill: A Series of Informative Questions

An aspiring author queried Village Green Press regarding how we do business with authors. Our responses are below the questions. We thought you might like to know.

1. Do you do a final edit of the manuscript before it goes to print, & is there a charge to the author?

We don't automatically accept every submission, but only those we feel have potential in today's competitive market. If we feel a manuscript has that potential, but isn't quite ready for "prime time" we do offer an array of editorial services to help get it where it needs to be that are billed separately before we agree to any publishing contract. It's common knowledge in the industry that well edited books sell better, and we work with you in partnership to achieve that goal.

2. The cover design, is it included or again is there a charge to the Author?

Good cover design is a specialized skill. While we work with authors who may bring us previously designed covers, and do listen to their input, we only publish books with covers that are consistent with current commercial standards. Should you be accepted for our program, the cover design is included in the quote for your particular publishing package.

3. What is the percentage you give your author?

Our royalty percentages vary for various publishing products (print, e-book, foreign rights and translations, book club sales and so forth) Generally speaking royalties fall in the 50-70 percent range.

4. How do you determine the price of a book?

By calculating the projected number of copies we expect to sell, and comparing it with similar titles' prices. We feel that titles with a lower price point tend to make up in volume what might be gained in possible revenue for a higher priced product.

5. Do you have a marketing team,if yes is there a charge to the author to use it?

Our authors can choose from a range of adjunct paid marketing services in addition to those included in our basic publishing package. Typical examples of such services include, press releases, book reviews, author websites and blogs, social networking, scheduling online author interviews, book signings, public appearances etc.

6. What does a typical time line look at from acceptance to actual print?

Four to six weeks.

7. Do you offer any feed back to your author after a submission?

Our goal is again to support the author all the way through the publishing and post-publishing process. We understand that in today's competitive environment some books take quite awhile to gain an audience and offer our authors regular and continued support through that process.
8. Do you sell on any of the larger sites, example, Amazon,Barnes & Nobles, Books a million?
Yes
9. Do you charge the author to make their book available in ebook?

Every author has the option to include e-book publishing in their initial contract package, or to contract separately for e-book publication. Charges depend on their choices, but as e-book publications exceed print publication by 147 percent last quarter, we do encourage author to issue an electronic version of their books.
10. How committed are you to making sure you have done all you could do to help your author's success?

We consider ourselves to be in a true partnership with our authors. While we can't always predict what's going to be the next bestseller, we do believe that good books always find a following, and work with you to help establish your reputation as an author.One that will continue a career over many books, not just one.


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