We get asked a lot of questions by prospective authors. A lot of questions! The questions run the gamut from process to pricing, from fonts to formatting, from Kindles to kerning. They’re all good questions asked by intelligent and curious people – many of them our future friends. We never mind spending whatever time is necessary to fully answer each and every inquiry, each and every question. Just so you know, never hesitate to call or email!

There is one question that not only comes up frequently, it is sometimes even posed in the email introducing the author to us – our very first exchange! The question is: “I already have a cover created. How much will this reduce the fee that you charge?” Well, this is just about the only question we get asked where the answer is maybe not what the author wanted to hear. The answer is, unfortunately, it will not reduce our fee.

How can this be? After all, part of the Telemachus Press fee is the creation of a cover for the eBook or Print-on-Demand book or both. If you show up with a manuscript and a fully developed cover, doesn’t that drastically reduce the workload? Actually, no. Amazingly, no. In fact, it adds to our workload. We have tracked many development efforts and have the actual data to back this up.

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Before you sign up with any self-publishing company, there are several parts of the publishing agreement where you need to take a moment and focus before signing on the dotted line. I’d like to talk about just one of these today: your publishing rights, sometimes included in sections like “The Grant” and “The Territory” or maybe you will find it somewhere else. As a new author you might be moving quickly to get your book published, but just so you know, this is a big one. Slow down.

The contract might reference the fact that you continue to own your copyright, it will always be yours and lead you to believe that this by itself is all the intellectual property protection that you will ever need. In other parts of the contract you will note, if you give the document a careful read, that you might very well be (and almost definitely will be) granting to the self-publishing company your publishing rights. The agreement might vaguely reference “General Publication Rights” in different media and different geographies or it may specifically include “Primary Rights,” “Trade Edition Rights,” “Mass Market Reprint Rights,” “Book Club Rights,” “Transcription Rights,” “Direct Mail Rights,” “Secondary Rights,” “Dramatic Rights,” “Movie Rights,” “Television Rights,” “Foreign Language Rights” and my all time favorite, “All rights not specifically granted herein.” You really need to seek competent legal counsel to understand just what you are giving away. Are you really locking your book up with this company and under their control forever? The implications of this are very, very significant.

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When it comes to money, we hate being surprised by unexpected and unplanned costs. And boy do we hear from angry authors who have been surprised by bait-and-switch artists in self-publishing. We’d be plenty mad, too!

At Telemachus Press, we value our author relationships and pride ourselves in being completely upfront about what it will be like to work with us. We want you to know about all aspects of our upcoming relationship, especially what the actual cost will be to publish your book. Just so you know, there are only three places where you can spend money with us. Only three – no surprises.

The first is our publishing services fee. For eBooks it is $1,495 and for a Print-on-Demand Soft Cover, the fee is $2,495. If you are interested in both eBook and POD, the total fee is $3,795.

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Things are finally changing for self-published authors. Well, maybe not everywhere.  Not yet.  Certain book stores and publishing houses still look down their noses at us, and maybe some of our snooty friends are still arching a brow and sneering, ”So…you’re SELF-published?”

Well, don’t fault them for it. There will always be those who fail to spot trends. IBM squandered the chance to buy Microsoft for peanuts.  Microsoft blew the chance to buy Apple.  And Decca Records turned down the Beatles, going so far as to say “The Beatles have no future in show business.”  Instead, they signed The Tremeloes, who auditioned the same day.  (Who?)

But I digress.

It only takes two words to explain why self-published authors are the wave of the future: Electronic Books.

In July, Amazon.com reported eBooks were outselling hardcovers nearly two to one!  And why not?  They’re cheaper, they’re environmentally friendly, they don’t require a trip to the bookstore, you can download them in seconds, free of postage, and you can carry hundreds of them onto an airplane without adding an ounce of weight!

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Telemachus Press is an experienced provider of author services. We take your manuscript, cover ideas, and prepare all the necessary files and formats so that the end result is a professional, high-quality product. That is why Telemachus Press uses Lightning Source (LSI) for all Print On Demand (POD) requirements.

Lightning Source, owned by Ingram, is the leader in providing inventory-free on-demand print and distribution services for books to the publishing industry, both domestic and international.

Telemachus Press Author Services for POD include (but are not limited to):

• Color Cover
• Cover proof for your review (PDF)
• Interior Formatting (Book Size Options)
• PDF proof of book for your review before printing
• ISBN Number and Barcode
• Quality Service from People Who Care

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Bad formatting, especially in an eBook where page endings and special formatting do not exist dramatically affects the experience for the reader.  And unfortunately, can reflect very badly upon the author.  The reader becomes so distracted by the formatting that the story is forgotten, no matter how well written. And, as some authors know, can bring bad book reviews.

At Telemachus Press, we quality test your book on our in-house eReaders before the files are uploaded.  We care about the presentation of your book.

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