Authors and businesses seeking self-publishing assistance are generally interested in 3 things:
- Value
- Fairness
- Competence
Value: Self-publishing may be technically free, but creating a professionally designed book takes experience and creativity. AuthorImprints recognizes this and provides transparent pricing and nonrestrictive agreements that enable authors to maintain 100% control over their writing, design, and royalties.
Fairness: We know that after countless hours of writing, authors seek a relationship that respects and honors these efforts. Authors should in fact be able to enjoy the publishing process. It’s not about us, it’s about your book. We strive to help every author meet their goals and dreams for publication and have fun in the process.
Competence: Most self-published books are sold on Amazon. However, there are many other ways to sell books, be it direct to readers, through brick-and-mortar bookstores, and via other online bookstores. At AuthorImprints, we have the experience to navigate all these possibilities on behalf of our clients.
We are not a publishing mill with multiple salespeople eager to sell a publishing package and turn you over to a different project manager.
Our standard of care, ethics, and philosophy about self-publishing can be summed up in these five guiding principles that we call the AuthorImprints Difference:
1. Keep 100% of your royalties. There are only a handful of reasons why you might need to pay someone besides a retailer to sell your book. As your advocate, our goal is to help you avoid or limit those situations.
2. You own and control your brand and accounts. Modern self-publishing is about removing the intermediary between author and reader. It used to be difficult, if not impossible, for self-published books to reach a majority of the reading public. Now it's easy, as is establishing one's own self-publishing imprint. A modest investment from the outset ensures lifetime control.
3. We never mark up fees or inflate third-party costs. Books you purchase are purchased at cost. Shipping is the cost the shipper charges. Some services for self-publishers are free to anyone. When that's the case, we clearly tell you. It isn't lumped in with a package to hide the fact that it's actually free.
4. You own your files. You get not just a PDF but also the files used to create the PDF. If you think that's a small matter, wait until you need to make a change to your book or create a second edition. If the services provided to you are essentially work-for-hire, doesn't it make sense that you should own the files that created your book? Read this for a fuller explanation about why publishing source file ownership matters.
5. We do not sell publishing packages. No two books are alike, and authors have different needs. We believe do-it-yourself can also mean do-some-of-it-yourself. Here are 5 things to watch for if you are considering Lulu, Outskirts Press, Author Solutions1, or some other author services company.
And if you are evaluating a hybrid publisher, be aware that they keep a portion of your royalties, they control your accounts, and you will need to negotiate ownership of your publishing files.
For the author or business who is serious about publishing and is looking for professional assistance, contact AuthorImprints or complete the form below.
If you do contact us and decide the fit is not right, we won't keep hounding you. That might be Difference Number 6.
1About Author Solutions
Author Solutions publishes books under these imprints: AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, Xlibris, Palibrio and Booktango. Author Solutions also partners with other companies: Archway Publishing (Simon & Schuster), WestBow Press (Thomas Nelson), Balboa Press (Hay House), Inspiring Voices (Guideposts), Abbott Press (Writer's Digest).
If you contact a traditional publisher and they refer you to a publisher where you will pay to be published, that publisher is probably a vanity or subsidy press.