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OUR FOUR-STEP PROCESS
Once you've completed the writing process, there are four steps for us to take before your book is sitting on a shelf at a bookstore or available for people to order online:
1. EDITING
Even if you're a great writer, your book will need at least one additional set of eyes for editing and proofreading. We publish edited manuscripts. There are different types of editors:
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Developmental editing (may also be called structural or content). This type of editor looks at the book’s big picture and overall structure. They may assess a book idea, outline, or early draft to tell authors what works and what could be better. The big picture questions need to be answered first before an editor ensures your words are polished and used correctly.
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Line editing (may also be called substantive or stylistic). This type of editor goes through each line refining the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences and smooth-transitioning paragraphs. This helps the book “sound good” by polishing the language used to communicate your story.
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Copyediting. This type of editor corrects grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Copyediting also includes correcting commonly confused words (e.g., affect and effect) as well as checking for internal consistency of facts and consistency with capitalization, hyphenation, and numerals. Important note: Sometimes Copyediting and Line Editing are the same thing; just depends on that editor’s interpretation.
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Proofreading. This type of "editor" does a final check before publication to find missed typos, missing words, repeated words, spacing, and formatting consistency. Proofreading should be the very last level of editing.
We used to work with a few freelance editors, but California recently passed a law that makes it harder for companies to regard workers as independent contractors instead of employees. We recommend you either contact the editor of a favorite book of yours (their names are often listed in the acknowledgments), or visit Upwork, which can be a decent online network of freelance editors for hire (just be wary of editors who charge less than $30/hour because they tend to be real amateurs, and then you end up needing to hire someone else to edit their work when they're done). Editing quotes are typically calculated by word count (somewhere between $35-$40 for every 1,000 words). The worst thing an author can attempt to do is edit their own work, and while using friends who are English teachers or whatnot is nice, you would rarely get the polished work one would get from a non-biased, professional editor with years of experience and good reviews under their belt.
2. INTERIOR LAYOUT
As soon as Step 1 is complete and all of the editing to the interior text is done, it's time to decide what your physical book is going to look like (dimensions, sections, chapter headers, table of contents, page numbers, dedication page, introduction, etc.).
While Microsoft Word is great for writing the manuscript, it's the worst software with which to attempt formatting the interior (if you've ever tried messing around with styles and section breaks, varying margins and gutter spaces, then you know how tough it can be). We use Adobe InDesign, which is specifically made for book layouts, and charge a very modest hourly rate of only $25. The less formatting your book requires (the less styles and formatting you use in your manuscript), the easier this transition will be for us, and the less time we will spend cleaning it up. Keep in mind that all formatting is stripped of books when they are converted to e-books because no two e-readers will display your book the same way (iPads, kindle, nook, etc.), since people can change the font size, margins, and dimensions to best fit their individual preferences on their handheld device.
3. COVER DESIGN
This step is important because people judge books by their covers: from the image on the front to the author headshot on the back, your bio, and blurb. Our aim is to delicately balance creativity with shelf appeal, as well as the highest standards of quality and professionalism. In most cases, there is no charge for this step. If you've hired an artist to create your front cover, we will format and incorporate your design to fit the dimensions and stylistic requirements of the front, back, and spine.
4. PUBLISHING
This is the moment we've been waiting for, and it's amazing how quickly it can happen! It only costs $50 to set up each book, $25 for each ISBN, and if you choose to have an ebook edition published simultaneously with the printed version, there is a $0.75 per page conversion fee. That's it! After the interior and cover are finalized, it's just a matter of us uploading metadata and files to the printers (don't worry, we take care of all that). We will decide on the retail price of the book according to how much you want to earn in royalties from each sale, which we'll be able to calculate after we know how many pages the book is going to be, as that's what determines the actual cost of printing the book (hardcover being more expensive than paperback, of course). And while traditional publishers offer authors anywhere between 10% and 15% in royalties from the sale of each book, we not only give you at least five times more than that (a minimum of 50%), but you get paid every single month, not just twice a year the way other publishers do it. Now.. THAT is cool!
That's all there is to it! If all of the above sounds acceptable and even exciting to you, then let's begin the process. Contact us with as much information as possible (including what part of the writing process you're currently working on), and we'll schedule a free consultation on where to go from here.
Please continue reading this website for information about the amount of determination you will need to go beyond publishing your book to having people actually buying it.
We look forward to working with you!
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