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Frequently Asked QuestionsFrequently Asked Questions About ISBNs
We’re looking for manuscripts that are well-written, interesting and well-edited. Other than pornography, hate literature and illegal activities, all subjects are welcome. We're proud of the books we publish, and know that every WingSpan author is proud to have our imprint on their book. Our Resources page offers access to a world of information about making your writing the best it can be. No. We are a publishing services provider. You are free to take your book wherever you want, whenever you want. If you ever wish to cancel publication, an email to your WingSpan Press representative is all it takes. They're your rights - don't give them up by signing an exclusive contract. The short answer: 6 to 8 weeks from submission of final manuscript and all materials. There are things that can affect your book's timeline, such as complex layout, lots of pictures or tables, making additions and corrections after we accept your final manuscript, etc. but most authors are holding the first copy of their book in their hands in less than 2 months from submission. Anyone who does it faster is cutting corners on quality! Once your layout and cover design are complete, we will send you pdf files for review. This works for most authors who can either proof the book online or print it themselves. But, we can send you a printed and bound proof copy for review for a fee (see our Other Services page for details.) YES! Your book can be softcover or hardcover, or both. All WingSpan Press books can also be formatted and published in Kindle and ebook versions. After your print book is complete, we'll reformat it into Amazon's Kindle format and publish it through Amazon.com. We'll also format your book as an epub ebook, the most popular standard besides Kindle, and publish that version through Ingram Book Group, the same distributor that carries your print book. That will make it available through dozens of online retailers, and readable by Nook, iPad, Sony Reader and pretty much all ebook readers. We set a minimum Retail Price on all our books because there are some costs that you just can't reduce, e.g. printing. But we've attempted to set the minimums as low as possible and still allow you to make a reasonable profit. Pricing your book above the minimum will increase the amount you make per sale, but only you can judge how your book should be priced for your market. Authors earn 20% of their book’s retail price. If you choose to set the cover price higher than our minimum, you'll also earn $.50 on every dollar over that minimum price. Royalties on Kindle and ebooks are discussed on our Royalties Page. Sales are posted to your author login page monthly, usually by the end of the first week following. Amazon reports Kindle sales around the middle of the month following. You'll receive a check in the mail if your account balance is greater than $50. Those with less than $50 are carried over to the next statement until they reach $50 or the end of the year, whichever occurs first. Generally, you may buy any number of copies of your book at a 50% discount off the cover price from our Recommended Pricing Guidelines. A few things may cause that to vary, like selecting a larger trim size. If you want to order 1000 or more, we will provide you with a custom quote for an offset print run. You may. We work with outside designers frequently. Your customer service representative can help you with the technical specifications. Your book will be listed in Books in Print and the Ingram Distribution catalog. Virtually every bookstore in the world depends on those two resources to order books. It will also appear on Amazon.com, BN.com, Booksamillion and dozens of other online stores both in the US and worldwide. (Borders has stopped listing self-published books.) The first printed copy of your book will be sent to you upon publication as a keepsake. Beyond that, you may buy books for your own use at our low cost of %50 off cover. When you think about the 'free' books offered by other services, be sure to consider their setup costs. If someone charges you $1000 for setup and promises to give you 5 or 10 'free' books, you can be sure they've calculated the cost of those books in their inflated setup fees. Free books aren't free. At WingSpan Press, we charge a single low setup fee and let you decide what other services you need and want to pay for.
The big 'P'. Everyone asks this question. And nobody's happy with the answer. Which is 'YOU'. You are going to either do or pay for pretty much every bit of promotion for your book. But here's the really bad news...that's true whether you publish your book yourself or you wind up with a nice, traditional, New York publishing contract that gives you a $5000 advance. Ask any first-time author in any field. Unless that New York publishing house has a zillion dollars invested in you, they aren't going to take out ads in the New York Times Review of Books, or twist Barnes & Nobles' arm about an endcap, or book you on a cross-country TV morning show tour. They will expect you to spend most of your advance to promote yourself, because everyone knows that if you don't sell through that first 5000-book print run, there won't be another one. But the good news is that we offer several useful marketing tools. Visit our Marketing page for details. It's really simple. ISBNsThe ISBN is the International Standard Book Number that uniquely identifies your book. To quote isbn.org, the organization that manages ISBNs:
In other words, the ISBN is just an identifier so that publishers, distributors and bookstores can keep it straight with all the other millions of books out there. ISBNs are specific to publishers. If you take your book to another publisher, they will automatically assign one of their own ISBNs to your book. If you want to re-issue your book on your own, you must acquire your own ISBNs since you are becoming the 'publisher of record.' In recent years, RR Bowker, the company that manages ISBNs has established www.myidentifiers.com, where you can buy one or ten ISBNs. Owning your own ISBN makes you the publisher or record and let's you publish under your own imprint. But there's more to it. If you're interested in starting your own imprint, read this: Publishing Under Your Own Imprint. Yes indeed. Your manuscript will go through the same process as books produced under our imprints, including setup and layout, printing, sales and distribution, but it will be printed with your ISBN and imprint on the cover and on the copyright page, and be listed online under your imprint name. In fact, WingSpan Press is the 'production department' for several small publishing houses.
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