I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.  But if a company takes the time and spends the money to develop a fancy website, the LEAST they can do is post their fees, right?  Here are a few of the self-publishing companies in our area who DO NOT publish their fees on their website:

Peppertree Press – Sarasota, FL – No fees advertised.  You have to submit.

A&A Printing – Tampa, FL: They tell you the per-book cost to PRINT a book, but you have to “Request a Quote” to find out their  professional fees.

Legacy Book Publishing – Winter Park, FL: They offer “royalty publishing” (all publishing/printing costs paid by the publisher) or “royalty publishing  + author purchase.” (this is a bit more difficult to understand, but it seems to be a hybrid- the publisher pays the costs to publish, the author purchases books to offset that cost).  There are many mistakes on their website, which is troubling.  The website appears incomplete or not well-maintained.

Here are two local companies that DO publish their fees:

First.Edition.Design.Publishing – Sarasota, FL: Hey! They publish their fees on their website! E-Book: $149-$199 | Audio Book: $450 – $2400, extra fees for marketing services | Print on Demand (POD) $599 with lots of extra fees for cover design,  illustrations, etc. and more fees for ADD ONs.  Read carefully and add up all fees before purchasing.  Their website text appears very small and hard to read.  You may want to increase your “zoom” in your browser.

Weinmann Marketing: LifetimeWriter.com – Nokomis, FL: We offer two pre-packaged suite of services – soup to nuts, plus one printed copy of your book: Legacy Lite at $495 (50 pages or less) and Legacy Long $750 (100 pages or less) and a “Custom Quote” option for finished books over 100 pages.

DIY Option

Many of you first time authors have been writing and editing your books for many years.  Now you’d like to see it in print, but OH THE COST! If you self-publish, this becomes a “DIY” (Do It Yourself) project that can be daunting.  You have to become a “jack of all trades.” You are writer, editor, illustrator,  and now….publisher.  It’s a lot for one person to take on!

If you decide to go with a company that will do it all for you…

Here are some things to look for:

1. Your job vs. their job: What do they expect from you? What can  you expect from them? Do they provide illustrators (for example), photo editing, cover design, page layout?

2. Manuscript Submissions: Is this an “evaluation” of your manuscript, and could your work be rejected? Or will they take whatever you have and help you to make it work?

3. What is the TOTAL, BOTTOM LINE, FINAL FEE for their services?  If the fees are broken up into a menu of options, make sure you add it all up so there are no surprises.

4. Do the fees include Marketing your book once it’s published, or is that extra?

5. Royalties: Do you get any? How and when?

6. Rights? Do you have any?

7. Extras: Do you get a free ISBN or is there a cost associated with that?  Who owns it? Do you get a discount on book purchases?

8. How do people find and buy your book after it’s published?

9. What if you find a mistake and wish to revise the book?  Is it possible?  What does that cost?

10. Do you get any free printed books with your purchase? If so how many?

There are many more considerations, but that’s a good start.

Happy publishing….hope to see you at my class starting December 1 in Sarasota!

“Got a Manuscript? Let’s Publish It!” If you couldn’t register for this class, check the Sarasota Technical School ACE Program catalog next year…it will be offered again!

Julianne