Frequently Asked Questions

General Publishing

No, probably not the way you mean it. We do everything a publisher does, but the author or business pays us. The author controls all the rights, all accounts are in their name, and they receive 100% of royalties.

The differences are substantial, all in the favor of you the author. In both cases, you are paying money to be published, buy books, and so on. But with AuthorImprints you keep 100 percent of the royalties, you receive control of your publishing files, and buy books at cost.

 

Most importantly, every account and registration is in your name and books are always custom designed. It also helps that you will most likely spend less and have far more personalized service!

 

* AuthorHouse operates under a range of brand names such as Xlibris, AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, WestBow Press, Balboa Press, Abbott Press.

It is simply the name of your publishing company. It is referenced in your ISBN record, copyright filing, Library of Congress filing and distribution accounts. It is displayed online where your print book, and sometimes your eBook, is listed for sale.

 

You do not have to form a corporation or LLC, or even file a DBA to use an imprint name. But it should be unique. (Read here how to research names.)

No, because you are the publisher, not AuthorImprints. We help you purchase and use ISBNs correctly. You can also do this yourself by following the advice in Register Your Book: The Complete Guide to Using ISBNs, Barcodes, Copyright and LCCNs.

Yes! In fact, this is a key difference between AuthorImprints and businesses such as Lulu, Outskirts, and AuthorHouse (Xlibris, AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, WestBow Press, Balboa Press, Abbott Press).

No. The author receives 100 percent of the royalties.

Yes. We recognize that self-publishing is a DIY activity these days and tools and services abound. We have worked with many authors and publishers that need just a little advice to get them started in the direction that is right for their skills and book. You can save a lot of money (not to mention time and often heartache) with some early advice. Click here to learn more.

Absolutely! We love working with other designers and want you to have the cover you feel best represents your book. But if you wish us to manage cover design, we’re there for you.

We consider signing NDAs on a case-by-case basis. Regardless of whether or not an NDA is in place, information and manuscripts provided by prospective clients is reviewed by a single person and deleted upon request.

Yes, in fact it can get awfully crowded under certain desks.

 

Other times it is simply boring and one of human's-best-friend will sleep his or her whole day away.

AuthorImprints is dog-friendly

Amazon KDP Print (formerly CreateSpace) and IngramSpark

KDP Print and IngramSpark are printers and technically your publisher if you use their free ISBN (usually not recommended).

 

Neither company will prepare your manuscript for publication, create a book cover, research and manage your metadata, or manage the process on your behalf. That's what we do at AuthorImprints.

Yes, you can do it yourself. Read our highly popular blog post here about how to do it.

 

Our clients either don't have the time or technical skills to create a professionally produced book, eBook,  and cover design. It depends on your goals and budget.

Most certainly not! We can arrange to have your book printed by one of our preferred printers at a lower cost than KDP Print or IngramSpark. However, you will need to need to pay for, store, and distribute these books. These are options that we help you consider, and they depend on budget, marketing program and obviously, your goals for the book.

No, we are an independent company that has developed a reputation as Amazon publishing experts.

Distribution and Marketing

Yes and no. We make your book available for stores to order (via Ingram), but you need to demonstrate that your marketing program will result in the public visiting the store to buy the book. Most won’t stock a self-published book unless there is demand, or they will charge you a consignment fee to stock the book for a period of time. In our experience it is expensive and time consuming relative to the level of sales you will achieve.

Because public relations requires relationships with influencers, and can be expensive, we work with clients to identify the ideal fit and then recommend one to three firms. Once selected, we all work in concert to publish and launch your book.

 

It also works in reverse. We are often brought in by the PR firm to handle all the publication and pre-launch details.

eBooks

Our fee to program your eBook depends on 5 factors.

  1. Number and type of links (TOC, endnotes, website links).
  2. Number of images and whether they need special processing.
  3. The type of source file you send us: we prefer InDesign, but Word or a PDF can work although these might require additional special handling.
  4. Whether you are submitting a manuscript, or a fully designed book (manuscripts are usually lacking all the necessary front and back matter.
  5. Special design considerations such has how to handle fill-in-the-blank forms or strategies for integrating the eBook content with your website and/or multimedia content.

You can see examples of our work here, get basic pricing here, or contact us about getting a quote.