contract « Robin Writes

The other day, I asked a publisher friend of mine WHY she hadn’t warned me about this publishing business thingy. Her answer: misery loves company. Of course, she added a few “hahahas.”

Sigh.

So here’s the short version:

Many of you know that self-publishing, or SP, still operates under a stigma of sorts. Not from readers – they probably couldn’t tell you “who” published their favorite books. Amazon certainly doesn’t care, ha, neither do Kobo or B&N online. Now, getting your SP books on the shelves at B&N, that’s another topic altogether.

The problem is booksellers. Most booksellers. They claim bad writing, poor grammar, nonexistent editing, lousy covers, etc. And sure, some SP books have all these issues – maybe even most of them. And booksellers simply don’t have time to vet every SP book that comes across their counters, which means they can’t recommend them and, therefore, won’t often try to sell them.

Well, I thought, I can solve that – I started a publishing company. Now, SP authors can pretty much say their books are published by _________ and get away with it – unless they run up against a savvy bookseller who does some checking. Not many do, but it’s really simple. If you Google a “publisher” and it comes up showing the author as owner and ESPECIALLY if they’ve only published the author’s books, well, it’s an SP book.

Knowing all of this, I went the legit route – we already had a SAN, thanks to the bookstore, so it was simple to create an imprint and put out a call for submissions. We received quite a few since we started the publishing house, and we’ve chosen two so far with a third being announced in the next couple weeks. We plan to put out print and e-books of just six titles this year, more than likely increasing that in 2014. But here’s the BIG announcement:

SEVEN DIRTY WORDS, a contemporary romance by CHARLOTTE HOWARD, is being launched next Tuesday, January 29!

Let me show you the process that Charlotte’s book went through, which of course is the same process for all of RHP’s books:

First, the submission. The ms is read by at least two beta readers who give their recommendations – whether they like the story or not. Then we make a decision as to the sales potential of the book and, if it’s positive, we offer the author a contract. We do NOT CHARGE FEES for anything. ANYTHING. We are traditional publishers, we take the risk.

The author decides if he likes the contract, if it’s acceptable; if not, there’s a little wiggle room for negotiation. A little.

Then RHP makes the announcement, adds the author to our website, and starts promotional work. Simultaneously, the ms is sent to our editor and to our cover designer. After these two things are finished, both are sent to the author for approval. Line edits are done one more time, to make sure everything is in place and coherent.

When the cover design is completed, promo materials are ordered, and the ms is formatted. We schedule a launch party at the bookstore, send out postcards to bookstores all over the country, and keep promoting the book. We arrange press releases, giveaways, and interviews.

On the release date, the book is available in print and all e-formats.

Simple, right?

Oh, if only I’d known!

Later today, you’ll be able to read a review of SEVEN DIRTY WORDS on the Creve Coeur Patch and Goodreads, and very soon we’ll be announcing a giveaway on Goodreads. The launch party is set for January 29, and we’ll have refreshments and a giveaway there too, and Charlotte will be joining us via Skype!

It occured to me that I hadn’t mentioned our publishing branch lately, so let me update you a bit on that aspect of our bookstore:

RHP is a division of All on the Same Page Bookstore; you can reach our page through the store website. We are accepting manuscripts as of RIGHT NOW, and we’ve selected our first one to be published in 2013. However, I’m not going to announce it until the contracts are signed….

We are requesting an entire manuscript, accompanied of course by a blurb. The ms will be read by at least two individuals. There may be some changes we request before acceptance, but an author is free to make those changes or withdraw the manuscript. We really aren’t unreasonable, but sometimes things need to be fixed. This process takes about two weeks, or a bit longer given the time of year.

Once that is done, the author will receive an email detailing a potential contract. If all the points are agreeable, and authors may certainly request changes, a contract will follow. This part takes approximately three weeks, depending on how much back-and-forth is needed to agree to terms.

Finally, the manuscript (with changes made by the author) is sent to editing. Editing could take several more weeks, based on the schedule of the editor. After that’s completed, the manuscript will be sent back to the author for final approval. During the time, the author and RHP will collaborate on the cover design.

The estimated time from submission to publication could be as short as two months, or perhaps three to four. Most likely, our first book of 2013 will be available in February in both e-format and paperback.

We do want to stress, again, that we do NOT charge our authors. We handle editing, cover design, formatting, printing, and marketing/sales. Authors receive royalties, and are NOT required to purchase a particular number of their own books. Period.

So there you have it: RHP.

Drop us a line…or a manuscript!