Private or Commercial
There are two ways to publish your book: privately or commercially.
Either way, we can produce your book in any quantity you require, from one to thousands, and in a variety of sizes with a four-colour cover, with B&W or colour interior, ranging from a small (127x203) 48-page paperback to a large (178x254) 828-page hardcover.
For commercial release, we handle the distribution; this is the professional and (slightly) more expensive option, but has the potential for far higher sales using our worldwide distribution network, including Barnes & Noble, Bertrams, Blackwell and Amazon. You would still be able to purchase copies for personal use and distribution.
Please note that whilst we make no literary distinction for private publication, for commercial release your work has to be of an acceptable literary standard (we have to think of our reputation and want to avoid unnecessary litigation!). However, for neither option will we accept pornographic, obscene or illegal matter.
In both cases there is a set-up charge of £75.00, this is for the initial set-up of the digital text and cover files at our printer and to obtain a sample copy of the book. This is a once-only charge to set-up the title.
On top of that charge you may need to pay us for laying out, typesetting and formatting to one of our book sizes, the price depending entirely on how much work is left for us to do after you submit your word-processed manuscript to us. See additional costs for the cost of typical services.
Private Option
Now we come to calculating the cost of producing each unit, using a small paperback (129x198) with a B&W interior as an example, with say 300 pages...
Each unit would cost £0.70 plus 0.01p per page to produce. So, in this example, a book would cost: 300 x 0.01 = £3.00 + 0.70p = £3.70 per book. This is the cost of production per book and stays the same whether you order one book or a thousand; however, to this must be added a fixed handling charge from our printer of £1.25 per order, and shipping costs, which tend to be relatively cheaper the larger the order. We cover our costs by adding a 5% surcharge to the final bill.
This is the unit cost for private publication only, i.e. for your own personal use and distribution. (Books would not have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and would not be listed in our distributors' catalogues, nor would copies be required to be sent to the Legal Deposit Libraries).
Summary - Private
Set-up costs £75.00, plus additional costs as necessary.
£0.70 per book plus 0.01p per page, plus £1.25 per transaction, plus shipping, plus 5%.
Commercial Option
In the second case, where your book is to be produced commercially, for worldwide resale, the costs are a little more complicated. The printer's set-up charges still apply, as do the costs of laying-out, etc., but to those we have to add the cost of an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), statutory copies (six copies in all) sent to the British Library and the Legal Deposit Libraries and initial, international booksellers catalogue inclusion. For this we charge £81.00.
We pay the cost of production of each unit, which, as in the above example, is: cost per unit, £0.70 plus cost per page, 0.01p (300 x 0.01 = 3.00 + 0.70 = £3.70). We would then offer your book to the wholesalers, Amazon, etc., at between 30-55% discount (that's how they cover their costs and make a profit). Let's say, for example, that you were setting a cover price of £15.00, and offering it to the book trade at the normal discount of 40%, that would leave £9.00 from which we would have to pay the printing costs of £3.70. We then subtract 5% of what remains (which is how we cover our costs and make a profit!) the remaining £5.03 is paid to you as royalties. All you need to do is put the money in the bank and tell the taxman!
If you wanted to buy the book from us directly, for commercial resale, we would sell it to you in this case at the private rate, i.e. cost plus 5% surcharge.
Summary - Commercial
Set-up costs £75.00, plus additional costs as necessary, plus legal copies, ISBN, and initial catalogue inclusion £81.00.
You set the cover price. Wholesalers pay us (usually) 60% of cover price, we subtract the cost of production. You get paid 95% of what remains per copy sold.
To buy commercially produced copies direct from us, you pay cost plus 5%.
Once the proof has been approved, the book could be ready for distribution within a week, though it may be several weeks
Selling your book commercially, means a good cover - it's what sells the book in the first instance and lends it credibility.
Unfortunately, you are not the best person to check your manuscript for these errors.